The phaseout of two widely-used chemicals will not protect Americans from exposure to brominated fire retardants linked to brain and nerve damage, according to nationwide tests of house dust that found unexpectedly high levels of a third retardant that will remain on the market.

In the first national tests for PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in household dust, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found high levels of the neurotoxic compounds in every home sampled, including one in Ann Arbor. The average level of PBDEs in dust from nine homes was more than 4,600 parts per billion (ppb), well above the average in any previous U.S. dust study. A tenth sample, collected in a home where products with fire retardants were recently removed, had more than 41,000 ppb of PBDEs, twice as high as any other dust study worldwide.

Consumer products, such as computers, TVs, furniture, carpets and drapes-not industrial releases-are the most likely sources of the rapid buildup of PBDEs in people, animals and the environment. The findings raise concerns that children may ingest harmful amounts of brominated fire retardants via dust and indicate neither the pending federal phaseout nor proposed Michigan legislation goes far enough.

Under an agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and chemical manufacturers, two of the three main PBDEs in use, Penta and Octa, will be taken off the U.S. market at the end of 2004. The fire retardants industry is fighting to retain use of the third and most heavily used compound, Deca, despite clear evidence that it is toxic, builds up in people, animals and the environment and can break down to the more harmful forms being phased out.

In half of the homes EWG sampled, the predominant PBDE present was the type found only in Deca. California was the first state to take action on PBDEs, passing a law banning Penta and Octa beginning in 2008.
Meanwhile, a separate study found herring gull eggs collected from nests along the Great Lakes contain rising levels of the same chemicals. The green-and-brown-flecked herring gull eggs contain growing concentrations of brominated diphenyl ethers, according to research by the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada.

Concentrations of the chemical have been in a steep climb, doubling approximately every three years since the early 1980s. Areas of Lake Michigan affected by Chicago and Milwaukee in the United States had gull eggs with the highest BDE readings on the Great Lakes, followed by Toronto Harbour. The cleanest eggs were at Port Colbourne, Ontario.
Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann Arbor) has proposed two bills, HBs 4406 and 4407, aimed at phasing out the fire retardants in Michigan.