Toxic Flame Retardants Found in Puget Sound Women
Study of breastmilk confirms need for chemical phase-out, but says breastfeeding still best for baby and mom
Release date: Feb 25, 2004
Press Contacts:
Clark Williams-Derry
Research director
206-447-1880, ext.106
In a study of Puget Sound mothers, high levels of toxic flame retardants were found in every woman tested.
In a new study of Puget Sound mothers, Seattle research center Sightline Institute (formerly Northwest Environment Watch) found high levels of toxic flame retardants in every woman tested. Levels of the chemicals—called PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers—were found in milk samples donated by nine Puget Sound women at levels 20 to 40 times higher than levels found in European and Japanese women. This study confirms other US studies documenting rapidly rising concentrations of widely used flame retardants in people and the environment.
“This is a real health concern,” said Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry. “Studies on laboratory animals suggest that PBDEs may impair memory, learning, and have other harmful effects on development.”
The report emphasized that mothers should continue breastfeeding, noting that an extensive body of research demonstrates that breastmilk—despite the presence of contaminants—provides many benefits to mothers and babies. These include reducing the risk of many illnesses in infants, as well as the incidence of anemia and some cancers in women. Breastmilk was chosen as a measure of toxic body burden in Puget Sound residents because it is the most convenient body fluid to obtain and study, and because it provides a good proxy for contamination levels experienced by the developing fetus.
"Mothers have a right to nourish their babies with wombs and milk that are free from contamination,” said Dr. MaryAnn O'Hara, a Seattle physician and breastfeeding expert. “The health of our children and our entire community demands swift action to get PBDEs, mercury, and other toxins out of the environment and out of our bodies.”
The study found that the median PBDE concentration among the nine samples was 50 parts per billion, with individual levels ranging from 13 to 156 parts per billion. In contrast, median levels in Japanese blood samples were 1.3 parts per billion in 2000, and tests of Swedish breastmilk collected in 2001 found a median of 2.1 parts per billion. The lowest level found in a Puget Sound mother—13 parts per billion—was higher than the highest level detected in the studies of Swedish and Japanese residents.
The study called for an urgent phase-out of toxic flame retardants in Washington, in accordance with Governor Locke’s recent executive order (04-01) to develop an action plan to eliminate PBDEs. It also called for the Washington State Legislature to fully fund the state Department of Ecology program charged with phasing out PBDEs and other persistent toxic chemicals. Funding for this groundbreaking program was eliminated in 2003.
"The evidence is mounting that persistent toxic chemicals threaten health, and the pressure is on the legislature to deliver critical funds to get these toxic chemicals out of our breastmilk and our bodies," said Laurie Valeriano, policy director of Washington Toxics Coalition and breastfeeding mother of twins. "We have an excellent opportunity in Washington to turn this toxic trend around. If the funding continues to be blocked, legislators will be supporting polluting industries over clean breastmilk and toxic-free children."
PBDEs are commonly added to consumer and household products such as furniture foams, textiles, and consumer electronics. Studies on laboratory animals have shown that PBDEs can impair memory and learning, alter behavior, delay sexual development, and disturb thyroid hormone levels, among other toxic effects. PBDEs are structurally similar to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), a now-banned class of chemicals that have been linked with a host of developmental delays and deficits in children.
Valeriano notes that economically viable alternatives to these chemicals exist and companies such as Ikea have already eliminated them entirely from its furniture products.
"While the levels we found in Puget Sound are much higher than in Europe, there is hope," said Williams-Derry. "When Sweden removed PBDEs from the marketplace, contamination levels in breastmilk dropped rapidly." Sweden was the first country to phase out some of the most toxic forms of PBDEs, followed by the European Union, which initiated a phase-out that will be completed by the end of this year.
Government agencies in the United States began to take action on PBDEs in 2003. Last summer the California legislature voted to phase out two forms of PBDEs—penta and octa. Later in the year, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced an agreement with Great Lakes Chemical, the sole US manufacturer of these PBDE mixtures, to voluntarily withdraw the compounds from the US market by the end of 2004. These actions do not address other forms of toxic flame retardants widely used in electronics and textiles.
“It’s simply unacceptable for the State of Washington to allow the use of toxic flame retardants that wind up in mother’s wombs and milk and threaten children’s health,” added Valeriano. “The state Department of Ecology must establish urgent timelines for phasing out these toxic flame retardants and establishing safer alternatives.”
The study notes that the rapid rise of PBDEs highlights a flaw in how our society treats new industrial chemicals. Roughly 80,000 different synthetic compounds have been introduced since the 1940s, yet only a relative handful have been tested for their potential health effects in humans.
“The risks of PBDEs could have been predicted, since their chemical structure is so similar to that of PCBs,” says Williams-Derry. “But we have no system in place to trigger even the most elementary precautions before manufacturers start using them.”
**Note: Print reporters can write about the story for the morning of Tuesday, February 24, 2004. A press conference for broadcast media will be held February 24, 10:30am, 1402 Third Ave, Suite 530. Visuals included. Contact us for media advisory and if you’d like to arrange an interview with a mother who participated in the study.