Publication Summary

This a draft document for review and public comment only. Do not cite or quote.

This draft PBDE Chemical Action Plan is a joint document of the Washington State departments of Ecology and Health. This is the second chemical action plan developed as part of the Department of Ecology′s Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxin (PBT) Initiative. The purpose of this document is to identify actions the state may take to reduce threats posed by the class of flame retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

The public comment period on this draft is October 11 through November 9, 2004. Comments can be e-mailed to Cheri Peele at CHEP461@ecy.wa.gov

PBDE flame retardants are chemical additives that have been found, in recent years, to be leaching from a wide variety of everyday products into the environment and food chain. PBDEs are building up in living organisms, including humans, at steadily increasing levels. This chemical action plan identifies actions the state may take to reduce threats posed by PBDEs.

Penta-BDE and Octa-BDE, two of the three commercial mixtures of PBDEs, have been found to cause health problems in lab animals with higher levels of PBDEs than have been reached in humans so far. The third commercial mixture, Deca-BDE, is not known to be harmful in its original state but has been shown in studies to break down into furans and harmful chemical forms similar to those of Penta-BDE and Octa-BDE.

PBDEs have been measured in a variety of human tissues, such as blood, fat and breast milk in people around the world. The highest levels of PBDEs in human tissues have been found in Canada and in the U.S., which is the largest producer and consumer of PBDE products. Levels of PBDEs in Americans are 10 to 100 times higher than levels reported for Europe and Japan.

The departments of Ecology and Health recommend a strategy that reduces the manufacture and sale of new PBDE products, and guides the handling and disposal of existing PBDE products in ways that limit human exposure and prevent the continued release of PBDEs into the environment.

In the case of Penta-BDE and Octa-BDE, the production of new products will end soon with the exhaustion of existing stockpiles of chemicals whose shelf life is less than a year. In the case of Deca-BDE, Ecology and Health recommend curbing its current use in electronics products and blocking its expansion to new products, such as home furnishings.