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Flame Retardants Refuse To Burn Out
Necessary News
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Executive Director/CEO, Healthy Child Healthy World
Think the flame retardant Tris is a thing of the past? Think again. Last week the Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States released a study that found 80% of new baby and children’s products tested positive for chlorinated Tris (TDCPP), a chemical voluntarily removed from children’s pajamas in the 1970s because it was found to cause cancer.
The Hidden Hazards In the Nursery study tested 20 products—including nursing pillows, changing pads, bassinet pads and car seats—for traces of Tris and other toxic chemical flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ether compounds, or PBDEs.
The findings echo those of a 2011 UC Berkeley study authored by Arlene Blum, a Healthy Child Healthy World Advisory Board member, which found that 86% of 101 baby products tested positive for Tris.
According to the Berkeley study, Americans have 20 times higher blood levels of PBDEs than in Europe; these chemicals are linked to cancer, thyroid disruption, lower testosterone in men, neurological disorders in children and reduced fertility in women.
What can you do to protect your family? The Washington Toxics Coalition has some great tips:
- Because PBDEs like Tris are transferred from hand to mouth through dust, make sure you use a vacuum with a HEPA filter, as well as a wet mop, to remove dust particles in your home.
- Encourage frequent hand-washing to keep any toxic dust on hands from being ingested.
- Avoid all products containing polyurethane foam with a label reading TB117, which means it has likely been treated with toxic flame retardants.
- Choose a safer mattress, ideally made without polyurethane foam; naturally flame-resistant wool is a great option.
Meanwhile, Washington State is considering the Toxic-Free Kids Act which would ban the use of Tris in children’s products beginning in 2014; the act will also circumvent manufacturers simply replacing one toxic flame retardant with another by requiring makers of children’s products to conduct thorough health and safety assessment of potential alternatives.
This important legislation is part of a growing movement as states seek to address deficiencies in the 35-year old Toxic Substances Control Act. Obviously, these are issues that are important to voters. I only hope that lawmakers will take notice as The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 approaches its Senate hearing this spring.
Flame retardants in baby products? This is a problem that needs to flame out.
Posted by keri on 01/21/2012 at 09:15 PM
Lately there is a lot of speculation that spray foam insulation is not as inert as once thought and in fact, SPF may continue to off gas for many years. The EPA has also voiced their concern about the need for further research on the short and long term safety of SPF in residential use.
We are in contact with 30 other families in the USA and Canada who may be suffering from symptoms related to their SPF home (NOTE: schools and offices are using it too).
Some families have moved out of their homes. Other families have removed roof decks and/or walls of SPF in hopes of reducing the chemicals and symptoms experienced in the home. Some families have no choice other than to remain in their home and rely on mechanical ventilation/filtration to help ease the chemical burden and symptoms, but find little relief.
After nearly a year of research, ventilation, lots of lab testing (chamber and air samples), and expert opinions, our family has begun tedious process of removing our SPF (roof deck and wall cavities). The removal is being performed by a local remediation company (the company has removed SPF in homes prior because of mold and moisture issues.
A detailed protocol created by our Certified Industrial Hygienist (other credentials include CSE, CIEC, CEICC, CIAQP, CIAQC) whom has experience (20+ yrs.) with isocyanates (Side A of the two part foam) is being followed to ensure safe removal (dust created from breaking the foam is a respiratory and dermal hazard).
We are hopeful that removal of the SPF along with soda blasting will remove and neutralize the chemicals associated with the application of the SPF. We will do more testing after remediation is complete to ensure a safe environment prior to resuming to build
According to the EPA the SPF should be cured (inert) and safe for re-entry 23-72 hrs after install. According to SPF companies, there should be no odor or off gassing after it is cured.
Our home experienced something much different; a chemical smell has lingered and when we entered the home we experienced respiratory issues, headache, flu aches, muscle aches, throat, eye irritation and chest pain. On warm days, the smell and symptoms were more severe. Some visitors experienced the same symptoms while others do not. There is a varying degree of threshold levels, but almost everyone, after prolonged periods complain of eye, throat irritation.
A lot of lab work has been completed by a well known leader in product testing. Our chamber and air tests show a long list of chemicals that at even low levels, chronic exposure to most of the captured chemicals in our home will undoubtedly cause health issues after little or prolonged exposure. Frighteningly, our chemical profile from both the chamber and air testing mimics most of the other homes experiencing the same complaints with the SPF.
Is this all a coincidence that the same chemicals are found in homes with spray foam and the owners are experiencing the same symptoms?
Today we are much more sensitive to things that contain isocyanates and flame retardants. Renting a car, walking into REI, IKEA, and HomeDepot can cause eye irritation, burning throat and chest congestion. Even running on a refinished track or wearing a wetsuit can evoke our symptoms.
Other SPF homeowners have had severe reactions and illness thought to be associated with the chemicals from the SPF. Children of some of these SPF homes develop a chronic cough and asthma like breathing. Chronic low grade fever and autoimmune responses have also been observed. Muscle aches and mental confusion and chest pain are other symptoms and can be seen during exposure and/or develop after being in an SPF home for long periods.
Our SPF manufacturer/supplier is very aware of our complaints and concerns (and the complaints of the other homeowners), but the company continues to deny any sort of problem with their product.
The contractor who installed the foam (in18 degree weather, with zero ventilation during install [two weeks], and allowed us and others to be in the home during installation) denies anything is wrong. Needless to say, like most of the other homeowners, we are left on our own to handle this because the science is not yet ‘there’.
Do you have SPF insulation somewhere in your home (attic, wall cavities, crawl space)? Do you experience asthma like symptoms, chronic cough, headache, throat or eye irritation, nausea, skin rash, muscle aches, flu-ish, any new autoimmune issues since moving into or installing SPF?
If so, do your symptoms decrease when away from the home OR during times of lower temperatures?
I hope our situation is a random, but if it is not and other homeowners with SPF are experiencing similar symptoms, it is important that information is being gathered and awareness is spread.
Posted by Audric -- greenscientist.ca on 01/20/2012 at 01:05 PM
@ Hannah—you can assume any foam mattress is polyurethane unless it explicitly says it’s made of latex, wool, cotton, etc. Often a polyurethane mattress has a cotton/wool cover, so watch out for that. Read the article on flame retardants here: http://greenscientist.ca/ .
@ Rachel thank-you. I did not know about the TB117 label. Good to know :-)
Also, healthystuff.org has some great guides to choosing non-toxic kids’ products: http://www.healthystuff.org/departments/childrens-products/
Cheers,
Audric
Posted by Hannah on 01/17/2012 at 05:20 PM
How can we find out if a mattress has no polyurethane foam? Is it indicated somewhere on the item?
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Posted by Hosch on 04/09/2012 at 01:56 PM
You are touching on what is going to be a massive issue when people realize what is happening. These health effects you are experiencing from the persistent chemicals in your house, are behind the whooping cough epidemic that is ongoing in states like California, Washington etc. It’s just being misdiagnosed. It’s a result of these toxic flame retardants being put in high concentrations in kids matressess. This is going to end up like asbsestos on steroids.
I bought a matress earlier this year. Removed it from my room after one week because it wouldn’t air out. The flame retardant particles made their way throughout the entire house, onto all my belongings, into my car, never aired out, wrecked my health. It’s scary and it’s going to be a nightmare dealing with it, it has been for me I still don’t know what to do about my car it won’t come out under any possible circumstance. They are definitely toxic.