San Francisco, CA, July 21--In a move environmentalists called "undeniably historic," the state Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would make California the first state to ban two widely used chemical flame retardants that are quickly accumulating in the bodies of humans and animals, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Senate's 25 to 12 vote would phase out two types of PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, used in a wide range of everyday products, from seat cushions and mattresses to computers and hair dryers, by Jan. 1, 2008.
Environmentalists claim the flame retardants could pose as great a threat as PCBs, suspected carcinogens. Studies have shown that levels of PBDEs found in human bodies and the environment in the U.S. and Canada are doubling every two to five years. Recent studies also have found alarming levels of the chemicals in the breast tissue of Bay Area women and in fish flesh and bird eggs collected around the bay.
The legislation targets two types of PBDEs called the penta and octa types. It mirrors a ban adopted by the European Union that will require manufacturers to stop using the chemicals by next summer. Environmentalists and some legislators hope other states and the federal government will follow California's lead.
"I think it will give a big push to the federal Environmental Protection Agency to enact a ban," said Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, who authored the legislation.
The bill passed with no discussion largely along party lines, with Democrats supporting it. It now returns to the Assembly, which approved it 45 to 29 in May, for minor revisions before going to Gov. Gray Davis.
Davis has not taken a position on the bill. But Winston Hickox, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, came out in support of the legislation earlier this month.
PBDEs can impair brain development, particularly in the very young, and alter thyroid hormone balance, which is critical to the central nervous system.
The chemicals were developed in the 1960s to reduce the flammability of polyurethane foam and plastics. They are commonly used in foam cushions and mattresses, carpet padding and car and plane seats, and in the hard plastics used in fax machines, computers and hair dryers.
North American industry used 74 million pounds of PBDEs in 1999, accounting for half of the world market, according to an analysis of AB302 by the Assembly's toxic substances committee. California is a leading consumer of the substances because it has the world's tightest flammability requirements for furniture.
Studies have found that women in North America have the highest levels of PBDEs in the world--levels approaching those that have impaired memory, behavior and learning in laboratory mice.
The chemicals can pass through the uterus to a fetus, and also accumulate in breast milk. State scientists reported in March that Bay Area women have between three and ten times as much PBDEs in their breast tissue than women in Europe or Japan.
Still, health officials don't believe that women should give up breast-feeding, despite the findings, advising that the benefits of breast milk surpass the possible low levels of contaminants in the milk.
Last week, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group released a study showing levels of PBDEs found in striped bass taken from the Bay tripled since 1997. The level found in California halibut doubled. Researchers also found rising levels in the eggs of shorebirds.
Bill Walker, the organization's West Coast chief, hailed the Senate vote as "undeniably historic" and called it "a good first step."
But he added, "At the same time, we have to recognize that between now and 2008, literally hundreds of millions of pounds of this will be added to products in our homes, in our schools and in our offices."
