By Kevin Miller
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Copyright 2007 Bangor Daily News
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
BANGOR, Maine — State lawmakers heard hours of testimony Thursday on a measure to ban a common chemical flame retardant that critics describe as a potential neurotoxin increasingly found in toddlers and in mothers’ breast milk.
Manufacturers defend the flame retardant as a proven lifesaver.
Parents, health professionals, firefighters and representatives of environmental organizations rallied behind a bill that would phase out the use of “deca,” a chemical added to the plastic casings around televisions and other household products.
Deca is a member of the family of flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, which are under increasing scrutiny worldwide. Deca and other PBDEs are showing up in the environment and, perhaps most alarmingly, in human breast milk.
The Maine Legislature banned use of two other PBDEs — known as “octa” and “penta” — in household products beginning last year based on evidence that the chemicals caused brain and health problems in laboratory mice.
But lawmakers deferred action on deca — the most widely used flame retardant in televisions — pending study of whether there were safe, commercially available alternatives.
The sponsor of the original bill, Democratic Rep. Hannah Pingree of North Haven, said Thursday that safer alternatives are clearly available. Her new bill, LD 1658, would prohibit the sale of most consumer products made with deca beginning in 2010.
“I believe the bill that I’m presenting is one of the most important pieces of legislation in this Legislature,” Pingree, the House majority leader, told members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Natural Resources in Augusta.
Critics contend that deca and other PBDEs slowly seep from televisions and other products, often in the form of dust that is then inhaled. Critics and defenders of deca disagreed Thursday over whether deca poses health risks.
A recent study by researchers at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Southern Maine found that newborn lab mice subjected to deca had decreased grip strength, thyroid problems and more errors on mental tasks.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection introduced its own bill seeking a five-year phase-out of deca vs. the three years allowed under Pingree’s bill.
Mark Rossi, research director for Clean Production Action, a nonprofit that focuses on identifying safe alternatives to toxic substances, cited studies showing that deca breaks down naturally into octa and penta, both of which have already been banned as toxins.
Rossi said the fact that many major television and computer manufacturers are moving away from deca is proof that safer, equally effective flame retardants are widely available. The legislation would merely ensure that the “laggard” companies make the transition, he said.
“We’re not supportive of any solution that reduces fire safety,” said DEP Commissioner David Littell.
But representatives of manufacturers cautioned against banning a product with a proven track record both in terms of health and slowing the spread of potentially fatal fires.
Laura Ruiz with Albemarle Corp., a major manufacturer of deca as well as other flame retardants, said most of the other alternatives have not been extensively tested.
Ruiz and other representatives of the manufacturing sector also countered suggestions that deca degrades into octa or penta in the natural environment.
Ruiz suggested that the Legislature may actually create more issues by forcing manufacturers to switch to alternative flame retardants. One of the most popular alternatives, a chemical referred to as “RDP,” is classified as a toxin that contains hazardous components, she said.
Ruiz said she fears the industry is “fast running out of good options” for flame retardants.
“Premature substitution of deca at the state level is a recipe for the creation of future problems,” Ruiz said.
A survivor of a household fire also urged the committee not to ban the use of a well-documented flame retardant.
But deca critics said manufacturers were only trying to protect a big money-maker and pointed out that no television manufacturers were present to oppose the bill.
The bill has the support of such organizations as the Maine Fire Chiefs and the Professional Firefighters of Maine, the Learning Disabilities Association of Maine, Maine PTA and the state chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
The Natural Resources Committee has tentatively scheduled a work session on the bill for April 12.