Brominated Flame Retardants: Cause for Concern?

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have routinely been added to consumer products for several decades in a successful effort to reduce fire-related injury and property damage. Recently, concern for this emerging class of chemicals has risen because of the occurrence of several classes of BFRs in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health perspectives 2004-01, Vol.112 (1), p.9-17
Main Authors: Birnbaum, Linda S., Staskal, Daniele F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
brominated flame retardants
Chemical hazards
Congeners
Databases, Factual
Dosage
Environmental health
Ethers
Flame retardants
Flame Retardants - toxicity
Halogenated diphenyl ethers
hexabromocyclododecane
Humans
Hydrocarbons, Brominated - toxicity
polybrominated diphenyl ethers
Public Health
Rats
Review
Risk Assessment
Sediments
tetrabromobisphenol A
Toxicology
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Description
Summary:Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have routinely been added to consumer products for several decades in a successful effort to reduce fire-related injury and property damage. Recently, concern for this emerging class of chemicals has risen because of the occurrence of several classes of BFRs in the environment and in human biota. The widespread production and use of BFRs; strong evidence of increasing contamination of the environment, wildlife, and people; and limited knowledge of potential effects heighten the importance of identifying emerging issues associated with the use of BFRs. In this article, we briefly review scientific issues associated with the use of tetrabromobisphenol A, hexabromocyclododecane, and three commercial mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and discuss data gaps. Overall, the toxicology database is very limited; the current literature is incomplete and often conflicting. Available data, however, raise concern over the use of certain classes of brominated flame retardants.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.1289/ehp.6559