[Pharmwaste] Flame retardant ban proposed in Washington state

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/309169_pbde28.html

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER 

Jurettee Mason breaks apart computers at Total Reclaim, a recycling facility. Even if a ban on chemical flame retardants is approved, the world for years will be faced with safely disposing of the millions of computers and TVs that already contain PBDEs. (Paul Joseph Brown / P-I)
PBDEs: They are everywhere, they accumulate and they spread 
Chemical flame retardants pose threat to humans, environment

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER

When Andrea Riseden-Perry nurses newborn Genoa, she knows she's providing her daughter vital proteins, nutrients and fats that can come only from a mother's milk. 

She also knows she's likely feeding her baby human-made chemical flame retardants. 

Riseden-Perry knows this because she volunteered for a breast milk study after her first daughter was born a few years ago. Her toxic levels weren't very high -- about 13 parts per billion -- but she wondered: What are industrial chemicals used to fireproof TVs and sofas doing in her breast milk in the first place? 

Andrea Riseden-Perry cradles 3-month-old daughter Genoa in older daughter Aspen's bedroom. Though she knows her breast milk contains PBDEs, Riseden-Perry continues to nurse Genoa because it is the best food for babies. It's a question every mother in America could be asking herself. 

"I was surprised to have any (flame retardants) in me at all," the Mill Creek mom said. "You don't want to see that. It's troubling and concerning."

Riseden-Perry is not alone in her worries. 

Washington lawmakers are considering passing the strongest ban on the chemicals ever approved in the United States. A vote could come any day. 

The chemicals -- called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs -- are everywhere: in your TV, your computer, your toaster and your sofa. They've been in use since the 1970s. The global demand for PBDEs was 200,000 tons in 2003 alone. 

But PBDEs don't stay put. Sit down on a foam cushion and you're releasing countless, invisible PBDE particles. When the TV gets hot, still more escape. Scientists find PBDEs in house and office dust. They rinses off our clothes in the laundry and run down the shower drain, winding up in sewage that's applied to farm fields as fertilizer. 

The flame retardants bioaccumulate, or build up, in fish and cats and orcas and foxes. 

They also build up in people. We eat PBDEs when they contaminate our food, particularly meat and dairy products. They latch on to dust and other particles, so we breathe them in, or ingest them when dust settles on food or when children stuff their fingers into their mouths. Scientists look for PBDEs in breast milk because the chemicals stick to fat. 

Over the past three decades, PBDE levels in people have doubled about every three to five years, and some experts don't think we've reached a peak. 

Typical levels found in people are around 30 to 70 parts per billion. But the numbers vary widely, and some people have astoundingly high levels -- a study of PBDEs in liposuction patients showed some had concentrations of 4,500 to 9,500 ppb in their fat. 

"We're very close to that level that could be a problem (for people)," said Rob Duff, director of the state Health Department's Office of Environmental Health Assessment. 

What kind of problem? Scientists are still sorting out the specific health effects of PBDEs -- and not all flame retardants are alike. But research is building, and it shows that the most commonly used form -- deca-BDE -- can cause developmental and neurological defects in lab animals. 

"We know enough now to ban deca," said Deborah Rice, a toxicologist with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and author of published research on the chemical's neurological effects. 

Why a ban? "Because of bioaccumulation, because of the persistence, and I think we have enough hints of its toxicity," Rice said. "We don't need to wait another five years or even another two years and let it increase in the environment, while we nail down every possible question we have."

Representatives of PBDE manufacturers caution against abandoning chemicals that have helped save hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of lives thanks to their ability to prevent or slow the spread of fires. Deca is cost-effective for fireproofing and has a long track record of success. 

"There's no reason to ban deca ... it's not a scientifically supportable position," said John Kyte, North American program director for the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, or BSEF, an international organization representing PBDE makers. 

"Nobody has been hurt by deca," Kyte said. "Nobody is saying there's an imminent likelihood that they're going to be hurt."

But support for a ban is coming from an unlikely place -- from people who face the greatest threat from the fires themselves. 

'Hard issue' for firefighters

When the alarms sound and lights flash at Seattle's Fire Station 10, firefighter Scott Marcus wrestles into more than 55 pounds of gear. He pulls on heavy pants, boots, a jacket and hat. When his ladder truck pulls up to a blazing building, he dons thick gloves and a mask that covers his eyes, nose and mouth and connects to an air tank. 

Firefighters train to battle aircraft fires at the Washington state Fire Training Academy near North Bend last week. Firefighters are at risk from the potentially toxic chemicals -- including a form of the deadly carcinogen dioxin -- that are created when products containing PBDEs burn. One firefighter says he can smell the smoke and contaminants in his clothes -- even his moustache -- for hours or days after a big blaze. This risk has led two state firefighting organizations to support a ban on PBDEs. But PBDEs can slow the spread of a fire and raise the temperature at which items melt or burst into flames. So in some cases, particularly in airplane construction, the paramount need to prevent fires and the current lack of an effective substitute means the chemicals' use will continue. 

While the gear protects his skin from burning and lungs from searing, he's still exposed to the smoke and toxic chemicals created in the fire when he's on the scene and not wearing his mask. He can smell the smoke and contaminants in his clothes -- even his moustache -- for hours or days after a big blaze. 

"Your gear is saturated with the stuff," Marcus said. 

That has led two prominent state firefighting organizations -- the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Washington Fire Chiefs -- to support the ban. 

Lobbyists for two national fire-safety groups testified in opposition to the legislation, but both are employed by PBDE manufacturers. 

When PBDEs are added to hairdryers, microwaves and carpet padding, they can slow the spread of a fire. They raise the temperature at which items melt or burst into flames.

"This has been a really hard issue for the firefighters," said Keven Rojecki, legislative liaison with the council, which represents the state's unionized firefighters. 

"We've been kind of pitted against our own interests: trying to reduce fires and trying to protect ourselves," he said.

PBDEs can create potentially more toxic substances when they burn, including a form of dioxin, a deadly carcinogen. 

The responsible thing to do, Rojecki said, is to limit exposure to PBDEs and find an alternative that can reduce fires and is "good for people and good for the environment."

Kyte, the industry spokesman, countered that the toxic risk to firefighters has been exaggerated and "based on fiction." He and others argue that well-researched, safe and effective fireproofing chemicals are not yet available. 

"We are looking for alternatives," said Dave Sanders, a representative for BSEF and Chemtura Corp., a PBDE manufacturer, during recent testimony on the Washington state legislation. "We're always looking for alternatives and we're looking for greener alternatives."

Finding an alternative

It's the third year that PBDE restrictions have been proposed by Washington lawmakers. This time, the politics have changed. Instead of the ban being championed primarily by environmental groups, the state Departments of Ecology and Health are leading the charge. 

After lengthy research into the issue, the departments have concluded that the "science clearly supports action to reverse rapidly increasing exposures to these chemicals," wrote Ecology Department Director Jay Manning and Secretary of Health Mary Selecky in a March 19 letter to lawmakers.

If approved, the new law would ban the sale and manufacture of deca-containing mattresses in Washington beginning next year. A 2005 survey by the Ecology Department found that mattress makers in the state already stopped its use. Deca can be replaced by a safer chemical called melamine or the mattress can be built with a fire-resistant barrier, such as one made of naturally fire-resistant fabrics. 

The bigger fight is over a deca ban in upholstered, residential furniture and in computers and TVs. That last item is important because between 45 percent to 80 percent of the deca use is in TVs. 

The ban would not be automatic. It would be triggered if Ecology and Health Department officials could identify a "safer and technically feasible" alternative to deca. The alternative must then be approved by a fire safety committee made up of firefighters, and the state fire marshal would have final say. The proposal then would undergo a public comment period and be presented to the Legislature. 

Manufacturers would have at least two years to modify their products. The earliest a ban could start is Jan. 1, 2011. 

Opponents of the legislation -- primarily the PBDE industry and the Association of Washington Business -- object to passing a ban before the deca alternative is identified. 

They're calling for the creation of flammability requirements for the deca-free items. None currently exists for electronics and furniture in Washington or the U.S. with the exception of mattresses, although virtually all TV manufacturers adhere to voluntary standards developed by Underwriters Laboratories. Any new state standards would then be applied by the fire-safety committee. 

"We need to make sure there are some clear fire-safety standards," said Sen. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. 

"Why put the manufacturers in a position where they might choose to put in nothing (to stop fires) at all, and put lives at stake?" asked Holmquist, who voted against the legislation in a Senate committee.

Some manufacturers -- concerned about deca's environmental and human harm and fearing the specter of a ban in the U.S. and Europe -- already are using alternative products. 

Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, which has a factory in Vancouver, Wash., that makes Panasonic-brand TVs, went PBDE-free almost two years ago. 

Trade secrets prevent Dale Swanson, an environmental engineer for the company, from naming the substitute. "We found out we didn't lose the bank and all the horror stories that were floating that the world was going to end didn't occur," Swanson, said. "The product is as good today as it was with PBDEs."

Hunting a most-wanted list

Michael Ikonomou is an environmental detective. A research scientist with the Canadian government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Institute of Ocean Sciences, he investigates a most-wanted list of industrial pollutants: PBDEs, PCBs, dioxins and pesticides. 

Michael Ikonomou, a research scientist with the Canadian government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, B.C., has developed techniques for fingerprinting contaminants that are tricky to find, including PBDEs. Because scientists began looking for PBDEs in the environment only in recent years, he's applied the technique to samples that have been frozen for decades, including the samples he is holding here. Ikonomou found that PBDE levels in seal blubber have been doubling every few years since the early 1980s. Asked where PBDEs are being found, Ikonomou replies: "Everywhere. We find them in the dust on top of mountains."  
 
In quietly humming, equipment-filled labs in Sidney, B.C., Ikonomou is using some of the best sleuthing tools available. He's perfected the ability to find PBDEs down to a femptogram, a measurement 1,000 times smaller than parts per trillion. 

Using a $600,000 mass spectrometer -- a machine that vaporizes chemicals, turning them into identifiable fingerprints -- he hunts for his quarry. It takes three or four days to turn a sliver of seal blubber into a measurement of PBDEs. The lab can process a dozen samples at a time. 

"No matter where we've looked -- whether it's the Arctic or an urban center or the Antarctic, (PBDEs) are everywhere," he said. 

But Ikonomou hasn't been on the trail for long. In fact, while the flame retardant industry correctly points out that its products are studied intensively, the area of PBDE research is relatively new.

About a decade ago, Swedish scientists raised the initial alarm when they began looking for and finding PBDEs in the environment and people. Ikonomou's lab was among the first in North America to do PBDE analysis, and he published his first paper on the topic in 1999. 

These days, multiple articles on PBDEs are published in peer-reviewed journals each month across the world. 

"The research is sort of pouring out at this point," said Laurie Valeriano, policy director for the Washington Toxics Coalition, an environmental group that has lobbied hard for a PBDE ban.

Scientists initially focused on two kinds of PBDEs now recognized to pose health risks to people and animals: penta and octa. The chemicals have been shown to harm the developing brain, reduce male fertility, alter ovary development, and disrupt liver and thyroid function. 

In 2004, the sole manufacturer of the two flame retardants voluntarily stopped making them. The reason? Kyte said it was because they were showing up in the environment and the Indiana-based company had an alternate product available -- deca. 

But now that scientists have learned to look for it, deca, too, is being found in the environment. Those lobbying against a deca ban said the levels being measured are too low to cause concern. They question whether it's toxic. 

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and state health and environment agencies agree that deca bioaccumulates, particularly in animal fats. Many are convinced that it poses a risk -- particularly to the developing fetus, infants and children. 

A paper by Rice, the toxicologist from Maine, is going to be published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology, examining the effects of deca on developing mouse pups. 

After exposure to the flame retardant, the animals showed changes in motor activity and impaired learning, as well as decreased thyroid hormone levels in their blood. Thyroid function can affect metabolism and organ function throughout the body. 

Researchers still are unraveling exactly how deca works. It breaks down in the environment into more toxic PBDEs and can be chemically altered by organisms into other compounds that also may be more harmful. 

"There's still a lot of questions about what the long-term effects are to deca exposure," said Linda Birnbaum, director of EPA's Experimental Toxicology Division in North Carolina. 

Researchers also wonder what happens when increasing doses of PBDEs are combined with other pollutants known to knock normal human development off track, contaminants such as lead, mercury and PCBs -- a banned chemical that's structurally similar to PBDEs. 

"The more we look at the science, the more it confirms our concerns (about deca)," Ted Sturdevant, Ecology's director of governmental relations, told lawmakers recently. "The more we know, the worse deca looks."


An unfortunate legacy

Seattle's Total Reclaim Inc. is where almost anything with a plug goes to die. 

In the screeching din of the drafty warehouse, computers are carried on a conveyor belt to the hammer-wielding, torch-scorching disassembly line. 

Andre Hobson shovels computer pieces into a bin at Total Reclaim, where computers are disassembled and the plastic shells, which often contain PBDEs, are broken, bundled and recycled. It can be difficult to know if an item contains the chemical flame retardants, and if it does, there is no easy way to remove the chemicals. "PBDEs provide no added value to the recycler," co-owner Craig Lorch says. 

Machines are smashed. Metal is shredded and teased apart with magnets. The plastic casing is crushed flat and bundled and bound like grim industrial hay bales. Some of it will go to Portland where a company melts it down for reuse. 

Co-owner Craig Lorch grabs a plate-sized disc of beige plastic from a bin. "This one, I don't see any label. What is my guy supposed to do with this?" Another piece is stamped with a string of letters and symbols to help identify which of the dozens of kinds plastic it is -- an important factor for recycling.

When plastics are unlabeled, a common technology for decoding it is about as sophisticated as a witch trial: Does it float and how does it burn? But that doesn't tell you if PBDEs are present, or which kind. 

"PBDEs provide no added value to the recycler," Lorch said. "It's a contaminant to us."

And it could be a contaminant in his employees. A study in Sweden compared PBDE concentrations in workers and found some of the highest amounts in electronics recyclers. 

There's no easy way to get the PBDEs out of the plastics before they're recycled or dumped in the landfill, where they can leach out over time. 

How long will the PBDEs be around in the environment? "As long as the plastic lives," Ikonomou said. "That's a big question that we have to worry about. ... We have not even begun seeing the start of the PBDE impact."

Other states are considering bans and restrictions on the use of deca. They include California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Montana. A law restricting the use of deca went into effect in Sweden in January. 

But regulations won't easily turn the PBDE tide. 

Though penta and octa forms are no longer being made, their legacy continues in your pre-2004 TV, office chair and mattress. The chemicals gradually disappear in the environment, but even deca, which is considered less long-lasting, can stick around in mud and sewage sludge. 

If Washington state lawmakers become the first in the nation to pass a ban, an alternative to deca still must be agreed upon. Enforcement of the ban could be spotty -- how do you know if deca is in this new computer or that new couch? 

Plus, deca use will be allowed in the drapes in your hotel room, your office chair at work and the plane you fly to Disneyland. 

Fire safety is a paramount concern for planes, which come with strict flammability regulations. Parts containing deca can include cabin walls, ceiling and floor panels, storage bins and engine components. They're made by contracted suppliers. 

"Deca-BDE is one of the most effective fire retardants available and it technically is a very difficult task to reformulate alternatives that will meet the stringent (Federal Aviation Administration) requirements and aircraft engineering performance requirements," said Boeing Co. spokesman Terrance Scott, in an e-mail. 

"We continue to work with the supplier community to identify and test potential solutions, however, in the interim, we believe the use of deca-BDE is justified ..." he said. 

Airplane safety is a minor concern for Riseden-Perry as the mother of two tries to figure out ways to reduce her use of PBDE-tainted products. She knows her home is a chemical hotbed. 

When her oldest daughter was big enough to sleep in a bed, she went to Ikea to buy it, knowing that the Swedish furniture company eschewed PBDEs. 

But she's not sure how much that will help. PBDEs are everywhere in her single-story home in a wooded Mill Creek neighborhood.

"I would have to replace every piece of furniture," she said, gesturing across her living room to a large ottoman and couch, the stereo and computer. 

"It's this huge feeling of impotency," Riseden-Perry said. 

She knows there are potentially greater threats to her kids, risks such as being hit by an automobile. But she's troubled by the chemicals all the same. What will constant exposure mean for her and her children? 

"It's too late for my girls," she said. "We're the experimental population."



AT A GLANCE

PROPOSED PBDE LAW

State lawmakers are considering a ban on chemical flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. The ban focuses on the deca form of PBDEs; production of two other forms ceased voluntarily in 2004. The last hurdle for the legislation is a vote by the Senate, which could come at any time. The House has approved the ban. 

EHSB 1024 WOULD:


Ban the manufacture and sale of mattresses containing deca by Jan. 1.


Ban the manufacture and sale of TVs, computers and residential, upholstered furniture containing deca by Jan. 1, 2011, if a safer, technically feasible alternative is found. 


Create a system for finding an alternative to deca. The alternative first would be identified by the state Departments of Health and Ecology. It would have to be approved by the state fire marshal and reviewed by a fire safety committee. The public and lawmakers also would have opportunities to weigh in on the alternative. Manufacturers then would have two years to eliminate deca from TVs, computers and residential furniture. 

THE BAN WOULDN'T APPLY TO:


The use of all three forms of PBDEs in aircraft in order to meet Federal Aviation Administration fireproofing requirements; in military equipment; in federally funded space program equipment and in medical devices.


The sale of used items or items made from recycled materials. 


The use of deca in office furniture and industrial fabrics, such as draperies used in hotels and commercial spaces. 


The use of deca in vehicles.

PENALTIES: 

Retailers unknowingly selling banned items would not be liable. Manufacturers producing banned items would be sent warning letters and then would be subject to civil penalties of up to $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for repeat offenses.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PBDEs

Used as a chemical flame retardant, PBDEs can be found in almost anything that carries an electrical current or is highly flammable. They come in different forms depending on the number and location of bromine atoms. Two forms -- penta and octa -- are no longer made due in part to safety concerns. Washington lawmakers are considering banning some uses of the deca variety.

Molecular structure of deca

PBDEs suppress the spread of fires by releasing bromine atoms (Br) when heated, creating a very thin layer of bromine gas on the surface of the TV or mattress that keeps oxygen away. 

The trouble with PBDEs 

For most people, the level of PBDE contamination is low -- around 30 to 70 parts per billion. But others have concentrations approaching 10,000 ppb. That brings them dangerously close to exposure levels that can harm animals in experiments.

In mouse experiments, deca can cause thyroid changes, developmental problems in motor skills and learning, and cancer. PBDE levels in people have doubled approximately every 3 to 5 years over the past three decades and continue to rise; the levels in Americans are the highest found. Potentially the greatest threat from PBDEs is to the developing fetus and children, but there is almost no data on levels in kids. 
Deca can degrade into more harmful chemicals in the environment and organisms, but that process is not well understood. Burning PBDEs can create potentially toxic and cancer-causing chemicals. PBDEs are everywhere

Items In your home and office that may contain deca:

Televisions 
Cell phones 
Fax machines 
Audio and video equipment 
Computers 
Printers 
Scanners 
Photocopiers 
Remote controls 
Lamp sockets 
Hairdryers 
Fans 
Upholstered sofas 
Upholstered chairs 
Polyurethane foam 
Mattresses 
Curtains 
Drapes 
Carpet padding 
Ovens and stoves 
Stove hoods 
Refrigerators 
Dishwashers 
Washing machines 
Clothes dryer 
Microwaves 
Toasters 
Coffee makers 
Water heaters 
Wires and cables 
Circuit breakers 
Electrical outlets

Items in your vehicle that may contain deca:

Instrument panel 
Battery case and tray 
Electrical connectors 
Engine control 
Computer system 
Stereo 
GPS system 
Upholstery 
Sun visor 
Head rest
Products without PDBEs

In some cases, older items from these brands will still contain the chemicals.

IKEA 
Washington-made mattresses since mid-2005 
Canon 
Dell Computers 
Ericsson 
Hewlett Packard 
Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries/Panasonic 
NEC 
Sony 
Xerox
Tips for avoiding PDBEs
Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter and change filter regularly. 
Use air conditioner with HEPA filter and change filter regularly. 
Cover tears in upholstery that expose polyurethane foam, particularly if foam is crumbling. 
Cover mattress with tightly woven allergen barrier to reduce dust that could carry PBDEs. Do not remove mattress label, it will tell if polyurethane foam was used. 
PDBEs collect in fat, eat less animal fat.
Sources: State departments of Health and Ecology, The Green Guide, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Bromine Science, Environmental Forum, P-I reporting



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P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler at seattlepi.com.

© 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
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Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
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