Toddlers and PBDEs

This week the Environmental Working Group released the results of its first study on fire retardant chemicals known as PBDEs in parents and their children. The study has shown that toddler have blood levels of the polybrominated diphenyl ethers that are triple the amount found in their mothers’ blood.

The safety of these chemicals, which act as fire deterrents, has been in question since the 1990s. They are suspected to cause hyperactivity in children and are also thought to effect human reproductive, hormonal, and endocrine systems.

Since PBDEs accumulate in the human body over time, exposure for children born to mothers with PBDEs in their blood begins in utero. The chemicals can be passed through breastmilk and high levels are often found in household dust so crawling babies and toddlers can be exposed in a variety of ways. The chemicals have been used so widely that they are also found in fish, meat, and dairy products so diet can be another source of exposure for families.

PBDEs are often used on foam, such as carpet padding or mattresses, and plastics, such as computers and television remote controls.

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