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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-18/news/52988567_1_flame-retardants-firemaster-pbde">http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-18/news/52988567_1_flame-retardants-firemaster-pbde</a></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><font size="5" color="black" face="Georgia"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:19.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:windowtext;font-weight:bold">GreenSpace: Study indicates even most vigilant consumer
can't avoid flame retardants<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"><img border="0" width="591" height="450" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CFBC9B.869F3FD0" alt="Children who crawl and put hands in mouths are at greater risk. JANI BRYSON / istock.com"></span></font><font color="black"><span lang="EN" style="color:windowtext"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:bottom"><i><font size="1" color="#444444" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:6.5pt;color:#444444;font-style:italic">Children who crawl and put hands in mouths are at greater risk.
JANI BRYSON / istock.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"><a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/gallery/20140817_GreenSpace__Study_indicates_even_most_vigilant_consumer_can_avoid_flame_retardants.html?viewGallery=y" title="Children who crawl and put hands in mouths are at greater risk. JANI BRYSON / istock.com"><b><font size="1" color="#004488"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;color:#004488;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">GALLERY:
Children who crawl and put hands in mouths are at greater…</span></font></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:1.8pt"><b><font size="1" color="#004488" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#004488;font-weight:bold">By Sandy Bauers, Inquirer GreenSpace Columnist<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font size="1" color="#888888" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:bold">Posted:
</span></font></b><b><font size="1" color="#888888" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:bold">August 18, 2014</span></font></b><b><font size="1" color="#888888" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:bold"><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Josephine Wilson has tried to shield her daughter from the "nasties."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The Princeton website designer avoided canned food because of the bisphenol
A in the can linings. She skipped tuna because of the mercury. When she learned about flame retardants, she scrutinized her home for sources. She and her husband eventually replaced their couch and mattress. Their vacuum has a HEPA filter to remove chemicals
that accumulate in dust.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">So when she saw a sign in the lobby of her pediatrician's office about needing
subjects for a study on flame retardants, she knew she wanted to take part. The results might tell her whether her efforts to avoid exposure were making a difference.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The researchers - from Duke University and the Environmental Working Group,
an advocacy nonprofit that wants to see better regulation of chemicals - tested the urine of 22 mothers and 26 of their toddler children for tell-tale chemicals signaling the presence of several flame retardants.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Not surprisingly, they found them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">All 48 had metabolites - the breakdown chemicals - of a flame retardant that
has been linked to cancer and that was voluntarily removed from children's pajamas in the 1970s. Informally called "tris," it's still used in many other products, including upholstered furniture and crib mattresses.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Many also had breakdown products of a newer fire retardant, Firemaster 550,
made by Chemtura Corp. of Philadelphia and touted as a more environmentally friendly chemical.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Both chemicals are replacements for yet another group of fire retardants known
as PBDEs, which were removed from the market because they became ubiquitous in the environment and were found to be harmful to humans.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Seeing the PBDE replacements in people was worrisome to Duke researcher Heather
Stapleton, who has studied flame retardants for more than a decade and participated in more than 60 published studies.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">"While we knew a lot about PBDEs, we know very little about these new replacements,"
she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">It is unclear what level of any of these chemicals will cause harm. But animal
studies suggest even the newer ones can disrupt hormone systems and may cause cancer.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">"Phasing out the use of toxic fire retardants, only to see them being replaced
with chemicals that might be just as harmful is not progress," said Johanna Congleton, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group and lead author of the report.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The study results became even more troubling when the researchers compared
the mothers with their children. In general, the toddlers had much higher levels. In the case of the tris metabolite, the average among the children was nearly five times the average of their mothers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">"It just reaffirms our hypothesis that this vulnerable population is receiving
higher exposure," Stapleton said. The substances accumulate in household dust, so kids who crawl on the floor and put their hands in their mouths likely will ingest more of the chemicals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">What scientists need to figure out, Stapleton said, "is whether this level
of exposure is related to an increased health risk."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The industry maintains flame retardants are not only safe, but necessary.
They have been used in furniture nationwide because of a California law governing flammability standards. That law recently changed, and many manufacturers are phasing out the chemicals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">In response to the latest study, Chemtura director of innovation and sustainability
Marshall Moore said the company was still evaluating it, adding, "we rigorously test our products to ensure the risk of health effects is low and the fire-protection benefits are real."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">U.S. EPA assistant administrator for chemicals safety Jim Jones said the study
shows why Congress needs to revamp the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which even the industry considers outdated.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">It puts the onus of chemical safety on the EPA, which must prove a chemical
is not safe before banning it, rather than requiring companies to prove a chemical is safe.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">"We're not even required to evaluate these compounds once they are on the
market," he told the Chicago Tribune, which in a 2012 investigation found flame retardants often were not effective.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Wilson, who is pregnant with her second child, also would like to see the
laws revamped. Although she and her daughter had comparatively low levels of the compounds, the results showed consumers can't do it all.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Most products are not labeled clearly, if at all. Plus, she noted, "even if
our house was 'clean,' what about . . . my workplace, the library, friends' houses, and all the other places my daughter and I went?"<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">"There's only so much you can do," she said. "You have the rest of your life
to lead. This is why I wish policy-makers would solve this problem."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">
<hr size="3" width="100%" align="center">
</span></font></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:windowtext">"GreenSpace," about the environment and health, appears
every other week, alternating with Art Carey's "Well Being" column. </span></font><font color="black"><span lang="EN" style="color:windowtext"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"><a href="mailto:sbauers@phillynews.com"><font color="blue"><span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none">sbauers@phillynews.com</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">215-854-5147 @sbauers<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"><a href="http://www.inquirer.com/greenspace"><font color="blue"><span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none">www.inquirer.com/greenspace</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></font></b><b><i><font size="2" color="red"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic"><br>
</span></font></i></b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Office of Water Permits
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
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