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The PBDEs Problem

What exactly are PBDEs and why are they of concern?

PBDEs are found in everyday products: foam furniture, computers, television sets, coffeemakers, copy machines, and automobiles, to name a few.

September 2003 saw major media coverage of two studies testing for levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), or flame retardants, in the breastmilk of American women. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), which carried out one of the studies, emphasized that breastfeeding is best. "All of the mothers in our study continued to breastfeed their children, and most gave media interviews to explain why we need to continue to breastfeed while we demand policies to keep these types of chemicals from entering our bodies," says Sonya Lunder of the EWG.1

However, not all newspapers chose to emphasize chemical body burden over more compelling headlines about contaminated breastmilk. It is vital to find ways to inform the public about chemical body burden without focusing on breastmilk-and it is possible. For instance, the Wall Street Journal's coverage of research on PBDEs hardly mentioned the word breastmilk, focusing instead on PBDE accumulation in humans.2

Dr. Jay Gordon, a well-known pediatrician in California and author, comments, "The recent publicity should be used as an indictment of how poorly we're treating our water and our air rather than the way it's being used, which is to say you'd better watch out for breastmilk."3 He received phone calls from concerned mothers the day the story broke.

Dr. Thomas W. Hale, PhD, author of Medications and Mothers' Milk: A Manual of Lactational Pharmacology (10th ed., Pharmasoft Medical Publications, March 2002) and a well-known expert on drug transfer in human milk, states that he finds a study by the University of Texas4 misleading because it implies that the doses of PBDEs in milk are detrimental to breastfed infants when this has not actually been proven.5 But Hale notes that there is a lesson to be learned from these studies. "We do need to recognize that environmental pollutants need to be reduced in our society. That is the most important thing about this paper. All of us do need to become more active in trying to rid our environment of bioaccumulative chemicals. Those of us in this field need to be cognizant that environmental contaminants do transfer in human milk, and they are a shot over the bow."6

What exactly are PBDEs and why are they of concern? PBDEs are found in everyday products: foam furniture, computers, television sets, coffeemakers, copy machines, and automobiles, to name a few. Three facts are noteworthy. A handful of studies on PBDEs indicate that they are rapidly accumulating in our bodies, in contrast with some other persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs or DDT, which were banned and whose levels are leveling off or dropping. A few of the women tested in the recent American studies show some of the highest levels of PBDEs in the world.7 And finally, according to Dr. Gina Solomon of the National Resources Defense Council in California, "There was no clear exposure pathway in these women, which makes it very hard for these women to know what to avoid."8 The women in those studies had no particular industrial exposures, household exposures, or noteworthy dietary histories.

The problem is complex because there are actually several different PBDEs. They differ according to the number of bromines attached to the molecule, and different ones are used in different products. Penta-PBDEs have five bromine atoms, are most easily absorbed by animals and people, and are most heavily used in North America. Deca-PBDEs, with ten bromines, are more commonly used in Europe as well as the US and are thought to be less well absorbed. But they are also under scrutiny because it is thought that they shed bromines and break down in the environment, then pass into our bodies.9 Like other persistent organic pollutants, PBDEs are of concern because of the vulnerability of babies in utero.

PBDEs have been banned or are being phased out by the European Union, and some furniture makers, such as Ikea in Sweden, have voluntarily stopped using them in their furniture as well. California and Maine have passed laws, effective in a few years, banning the use of PBDEs. However, neither of these are complete bans, and in the meantime, another 365 million pounds of PBDEs could accumulate in our environment.10 A major source of PBDEs in the US is from their use in foam-padded furniture. However, only California requires that foam padding in furniture be made flame-retardant; the Consumer Product Safety Commission has never required it.

The PBDE issue is another indication of the way that lax governmental regulation of chemicals before they are put on the market compromises public health. Dr. Hale emphasizes the importance of being aware of environmental chemical contamination without compromising breastfeeding. He recommends that the best way to defeat this problem is to use our power as consumers to stop buying products containing PBDEs.11 The EWG also recommends that consumers urge Congress to require labeling of products containing PBDEs, as well as a ban on PBDEs in general, although Sonya Lunder of the EWG notes that "this puts the burden on parents to avoid chemical exposure" when it should not have to be their responsibility.12

Consumers should keep in mind, furthermore, that because new chemicals are not well studied for their toxic effects, new chemical replacements for PBDEs may not be safe either. "Using less-flammable materials or changing the product design so that it is inherently more fire resistant, are chemical-free solutions," says the EWG report.13 There are also many calls from environmental groups for better governmental regulation of chemicals. "How is it that companies can put new products on store shelves that have undergone such little scrutiny? Why is the system set up so that advocates have to prove harm before parents can get more information about products in their homes?" asks Lunder.14

More studies on breastmilk will be coming out soon, and, despite the best intentions of environmental groups and breastfeeding advocates, media hype will certainly occur. The point we must all hope will be made is this: Contaminants found in breastmilk are merely a snapshot of the contaminants all of us bear. News about contaminants should not be taken as a statement about contaminated breastmilk. Breastmilk is the best food for our babies.