[ OUR OPINION ]
Bill falls short of warning
about fire retardantsTHE state Legislature is nearing enactment of a laudable bill aimed at bringing public attention to two flame retardants that are banned in Europe because of health risks. However, a third and more widely used retardant is not mentioned, even though its discharge could become even more toxic than the other retardants, and should have been included in the legislation.
THE ISSUE
State legislators are near enactment of a bill intended to increase awareness of toxic properties of certain flame retardants.
The bill, proposed by Rep. Hermina Morita (D, Hanalei-Kapaa) would declare a ban on merchandise coated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, in two forms known as Penta and Octa. The retardants, developed in the 1960s to meet increased fire safety rules, are applied to plastics and foams used in furniture and electronic equipment.
The chemicals travel into the environment and have been found in polar bears, dolphins and sperm whales. People are exposed by consuming meat, fish, poultry and dairy products. A study in September showed that the level of retardant chemicals in the breast milk of American women was 75 times the average found in European women, perhaps because of stricter fire safety rules in the United States.
Tests on mice have indicated they can cause harm in ways similar to polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, a compound used in industrial coolants and lubricants before being banned in the United States in the 1970s. Research indicates that Penta and Octa PBDEs can disrupt the thyroid hormone balance and harm the developing brain, causing hyperactivity, hearing loss and reduced learning ability.
The European Union imposed a ban on production and distribution of the two retardants last year, and the California legislature enacted a similar ban last year, effective in 2008. The Hawaii bill, if enacted, would take effect in 2006. However, it includes no enforcement authority, "so mainly this bill is to bring awareness" to the problem, according to Morita. "It would be real difficult for Hawaii to act on its own because our market is so small."
Great Lakes Chemical Corp., of West Lafayette, Ind., the only U.S. manufacturer of the retardants, voluntarily agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency in November to stop making Penta and Octa PBDEs by the end of this year. Great Lakes and other manufacturers plan to continue producing a third type of retardant -- Deca PBDEs.
However, a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology days after announcement of the EPA-Great Lakes agreement indicated that as Deca PBDE breaks down in the environment it takes on the properties of Penta PBDEs and of substances that are much more toxic. That explains why high levels of the principle compound in the Penta retardant were found by researchers in fish in a Virginia river downstream from a waste-treatment plant that had been releasing large amounts of Deca retardants but little Penta.
Stopping production and distribution of Penta and Octa retardants may give false assurance of safety. Of the more than 74,000 tons of Penta, Octa and Deca retardants that were used worldwide in 2001, 62,000 tons were Deca. Nearly half that amount was used in North America.
