ABOUT
Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Written by EWG staff.
DONATE TO EWG!
Help us protect your health and environment! Please donate $5 to EWG today.
GET EWG'S TIPS & ACTION ALERTS
Sign Up here to receive email updates and tips from EWG and stay informed on the issues that matter most to you.
ENVIROBLOG VIA EMAIL
Join EWG's live chat with Chef Ann Cooper
School lunch: More fruits & veggies, please!
Texas Schools are Drilling for Dollars
Why do blowouts take so long to fix?
SEARCH ENVIROBLOG
FEATURED
Support the 2010 Safe Cosmetics Act. It's Urgent.
Why, oh why is there plastic in my aluminum water bottle?
Cell phone radiation series - Part 2: 8 Ways to reduce your exposure
Test Your Knowledge of Cosmetics Safety: 8 Myths Debunked
EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series
EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure
EWG on TV
Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill
Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water
Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen
BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics
What can I do about fluoride in my water?
What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
PEOPLE TALKING TOXICS
TALK TO US
Did we miss something? Email Enviroblog.
« Triple Crisis Teach-In report | Main | 7 ways to reduce your exposure to PBDE flame retardants »
Toddlers' PBDE exposure (and some Queen for good measure)
I’m warning you now: read this post and you may find yourself humming a particular song for the rest of the day.
Science News has an article this week about human exposure to flame retardants (PBDEs) through dust. PBDEs are linked to cancer and problems with brain development (in neonatal mice) and neurobehavioral problems (in the same mice in adulthood), and now they’re linked to thyroid disorder in cats. They’re everywhere, in all of us, and they’re bioaccumulative (like PCBs – they build up in bodies and in the food supply).
The article, titled Don’t Bite the Dust (can’t you hear that catchy baseline now?) examines the higher blood-PBDE levels of toddlers and children, which researchers theorize may be due to their higher exposure to PBDE-laden dust (a subject EWG examined back in 2004: In The Dust). They’re crawling around on the floor, chewing on toys made of materials that attract dust, breathing air much closer to the source of the dust. Plus, researchers have also found a positive correlation between PBDE residue in dust and PBDE levels in breast milk.
So. Children are being exposed to PBDEs at higher levels, and PBDEs are linked to serious illness in other mammals. But the human data “just aren’t in,” so what does the Science News article recommend?
You might want to vacuum more often. Oh, and limit your children’s intake of fish and high-fat dairy, which tend to have high PBDE content.
Sound advice, but um, gee… do you think maybe the government ought to do something about a set of chemicals that pose a known health risk to other animals, especially when our most vulnerable population is being exposed at such high levels?
EPA has supported voluntary phase-outs of certain PBDEs by industry, but those same varieties have been outright banned in the EU (and in Washington, as of earlier this year). Other PBDEs go virtually unregulated. The chemical industry should have to prove that their products are safe, but instead the burden of proof is placed on government and environmental health scientists to demonstrate that PBDEs are a health risk.
Ugh. Please note my disgust. But in the meantime, Science News is right – vacuum often, with a HEPA vacuum. And if your coworkers get on your case today for humming Another One Bites the Dust, you can blame me.
Leave a comment