EPA Study Underlines Need for Ban on Dangerous Fire Retardants

The report, published in the August 15 edition of Environmental Science and Technology, is the latest to focus on the adverse health impacts of these chemicals. When brominated fire retardants burn, they convert to dioxins, among the most potent carcinogens known. As a result, firefighters suffer from four types of cancer–especially non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma–at extremely high rates. Some studies have also linked the existence of brominated fire retardants in breast milk to reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders including ADHD and hyperactivity in children.

Press Release