Environmental Health Group Applauds Toxic Flame Retardant Phase-Out

Arlington, VA — Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) applauds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its recently negotiated, voluntary phase-out of the toxic chemical decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), a brominated flame retardant. EPA has obtained commitments from the two U.S. manufacturers and largest U.S. importer of decaBDE to stop producing, using, and importing the chemical by 2013.

Evidence shows that some brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are likely to bio-accumulate in people and cause adverse health effects in children. The breast milk of American women contains the highest levels of BFRs in human breast milk found anywhere in the world. The widespread use of plastics and other synthetic materials in electrical appliances, textiles, upholstery and construction materials has increased the flammability of these products, making it necessary to modify them to meet fire safety standards. Fully functional but less toxic flame retardants are available.

“We are very pleased that EPA has finally acted to reduce the use of this unnecessary toxic chemical,” stated Mark Rossi, co-chair of the HCWH Chemicals Policy Working Group. “We are encouraged that EPA will continue to support efforts to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in this country, including working to support revisions to TSCA which will be debated this year in Congress.”

The phase-out represents a victory for public health and follows a decade-long effort by the Electronics Take Back Campaign, Health Care Without Harm, and many other organizations to have the substance removed from the marketplace. HCWH has been active for many years, working with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) and leading hospital systems to move the healthcare sector’s purchasing away from brominated flame retardants. In the last few years, environmental health coalitions in several states won legislative bans on decaBDE, while state policy campaigns are currently ongoing in more than 12 other states.

“The widespread exposure of Americans to unregulated toxic chemicals is contributing to an epidemic of chronic disease in this country and financially ballooning healthcare costs. Reform of the nation’s chemical regulatory framework should be a priority public health intervention for Congress in the coming year,” stated Gary Cohen, president of HCWH. “This will be a major undertaking for HCWH in 2010.”

The voluntary and limited nature of the agreement underscores the need to strengthen laws regulating chemicals in commerce. The nation’s current laws do not provide enough authority for EPA to enforce the phase-out, nor do they prevent the introduction of dangerous chemicals into commerce in the first place. Recognizing this failure, in the same announcement, EPA pledged to work for comprehensive reform of the primary law governing industrial chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

EPA support for reform of TSCA will be invaluable in what promises to be a difficult battle this year to overhaul the existing law. Since 1976 when TSCA was passed, EPA has required testing on only 200 of the 80,000 chemicals on the market. Only five have been restricted. TSCA’s ineffectiveness has sparked calls from environmental health advocates, government, and industry for an overhaul of the existing law, but the details of what will constitute real TSCA reform remain open for debate.

“Unfortunately, this phase-out does not prohibit the use of recycled content, and EPA does not have enforcement authority to ensure compliance with the phase-out,” stated Rachel Gibson, Chemicals Policy Director of Health Care Without Harm. “The fact that the agency had to seek voluntary phase-out from the manufacturers demonstrates some of the limitations of TSCA.”

Health Care Without Harm has joined Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (www.saferchemicals.org), a broad-based coalition of organizations supporting an overhaul of TSCA, including health-affected groups, healthcare providers, moms organizations, environmental health and justice advocates, reproductive health advocates, businesses, learning disabilities groups, and others. Health Care Without Harm expects TSCA reform to be one of its priority issues during 2010.

View EPA’s press release on decaBDE (decabromodiphenyl ether).

Get a copy of EPA’s Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation

Heath Care without Harm, an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. To learn more about HCWH's work, visit our website at www.noharm.org, our YouTube channel at HCwithoutharm, and our twitter feed at hcwithoutharm.