California bans fire retardants due to health risks

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Reacting to research showing the rapid accumulation of widely used flame retardants in humans and wildlife, California will become the first state to ban the chemicals, which are suspected of contributing to learning disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity in children.

In a ceremony at a health center, Gov. Gray Davis signed the measure on Saturday, legislation to eventually ban flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. The chemicals, developed in the 1960s, are found in the plastics and foams used in furniture and electronic equipment. The ban would start in 2008, a compromise date set by the chemical industry and California state legislators.

Of the chemicals besides pesticides that humans and wildlife absorb from the environment, only three -- mercury, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs -- are known to harm health at levels that accumulate in the body. PBDEs, scientists say, are a strong candidate to be a fourth. They appear to be traveling widely, showing up in polar bears, dolphins and sperm whales.

California is following the lead of the European Union, which imposed a similar ban this year, prompted by a Swedish study that reported the levels of the chemicals in breast milk in Sweden had increased fortyfold from 1972 to 1997. China and South Korea are considering bans.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is analyzing the effect of the chemicals. Lisa Harrison, a spokeswoman, said it was evaluating information from the industry and would "make recommendations whether additional hazard and exposure information is needed."

Research shows that the level of the chemicals in the breast milk of North American women is the highest recorded, the California Environmental Protection Agency said. The median level in the breast milk of California women is three to 10 times as high as the level in the milk of European women, the agency said.

The levels in some American women and babies are close to levels harmful to newborn mice. Scientists say that levels in people and wildlife in the United States are rising rapidly.

Scientists liken PBDEs to PCBs, industrial chemicals that were banned in 1977 for their environmental hazard and harm to humans. The chemicals, which have similar structures, accumulate in body fat and take decades to break down in the environment.

"All you have to do is look at the molecule and say, 'This is a bad scene,' " said Ross Norstrom, an environmental chemist who retired from Environment Canada, a government agency, in June.

Tests on mice in Sweden show that the chemicals can harm their brains in ways similar to the harm from PCBs.

No studies of the effect of the chemicals on human health have been published, but researchers are extrapolating their concern from animal studies and knowledge about how PCBs harm humans.

"Our primary concern is that PBDE disrupts the thyroid hormone balance and causes harm to the developing brain," said Tom McDonald, a toxicologist with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. "We're talking about subtle effects: hyperactivity, hearing loss, less ability to learn."

Two recent studies of mice show that PBDEs and PCBs may have a compound effect.

While the hazards of PCBs were first noted in the 1930s, PBDEs have only recently emerged as a cause for concern.

"The most interesting thing about PBDEs is that we were taken completely by surprise," said Jianwen She, an environmental biochemist with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

While the United States has not been storing breast milk samples as Sweden has long done, American blood samples from the 1960s do not show the presence of PBDEs.

"What we could measure in the 1990s, we couldn't measure in the 1960s," said Mytro Petreas, an environmental biochemist with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The rise in PBDEs apparently is occurring in part because the chemicals became more widely used as governments raised flammability resistance requirements for products. California has one of the most stringent antiflammability requirements in the country, though the California environmental toxicologists say tests show that women from Indiana, Colorado, New York, Texas and Canada have levels of PBDEs similar to those of California women.

Scientists say it is unclear how PBDEs are getting into humans. California environmental scientists say they have observed high levels of PBDEs in household dust.

Great Lakes Chemical in Indianapolis is the primary producer of PBDEs. It lobbied to have the California ban take effect in 2008, rather than 2006, and has begun looking for flame retardant substitutes.

States generally defer to the federal government in regulating toxic chemicals because of the scientific and financial burden of studying them. The emerging research, however, prompted Wilma Chan, the majority leader of the California Assembly, to propose a ban, which drew the support of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Winston Hickox, secretary of the agency, characterized the federal policy as "inaction."

"It seemed to us to be irresponsible for us not to address these health risks," Hickox said.

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