The chemicals meant to keep your couch from catching fire have spread far beyond the living room. PBDEs — polybrominated diphenyl ethers — are a class of flame retardants, and they have raised international concern because they are now found widely in the environment, can build up in people and wildlife, and are suspected of harming human health.
As part of NOAA's Mussel Watch Program, PBDEs are one of 150 contaminants monitored by regularly sampling bivalves and sediment at 300 coastal sites around the nation. Credit: NOAA.
What they do, and where they are
PBDEs are added to a wide range of consumer products, from TVs and toasters to mattresses and drapes. They slow ignition and the spread of fire, giving people more time to escape a fire or put it out.
A higher dose in the U.S.
In the United States, PBDE levels in people are generally 10–100 times higher than levels measured in people in Europe and Asia.
A partial phase-out
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1970s | U.S. production of PBDEs began |
| late 1990s | production peaked |
| 2004 | U.S. manufacturers voluntarily stopped making PentaBDE (used in furniture foam) and OctaBDE (used in electronics), and began producing alternatives |
| still | DecaBDE is produced and used in the U.S., mainly in television casings; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a possible human carcinogen |
Sources
Based on "What are PBDEs?" from NOAA's National Ocean Service, a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from oceanservice.noaa.gov
1
0
0
0
Comments
