Publication Summary

This interim plan includes revisions to the draft chemical action plan released in October 2004. Changes were based on comments received during the public comment period and from the external advisory committee that has guided Ecology and the state Department of Health (DOH) throughout the development of this document. Ecology and DOH will release the final PBDE Chemical Action Plan in December 2005.

The Interim Chemical Action Plan for PBDEs by the departments of Ecology and Health identifies actions the state may take to reduce the threat of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in the environment. In his executive order of January 2004, Governor Gary Locke directed the Department of Ecology (Ecology), in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH), to develop a plan to reduce the threat of PBDEs in the environment.

The most current scientific information about the environmental and human health risks of PBDEs has been thoughtfully reviewed in the development of this plan, as have the experiences of other states and Europe where policies to reduce PBDEs have been crafted. After many months of study, after consulting with some of the leading researchers in the field, and after hearing from hundreds of concerned residents and groups, Ecology and DOH have outlined steps contained within this plan that will reduce the effect of PBDEs on human health and the environment.

This interim plan includes revisions to the draft chemical action plan released in October 2004. Changes were based on comments received during the public comment period and from the external advisory committee that has guided Ecology and DOH throughout the development of this document. Ecology and DOH will release the final PBDE Chemical Action Plan in December 2005.