Flame Retardants Linked to Fertility, Development Problems

Women with high levels of flame retardants in their blood took longer to become pregnant, and children born with higher levels of the chemicals scored lower on development tests.

By Jessica Marshall | Fri Feb 5, 2010 07:27 AM ET

The first studies of widely used flame-retardants' effects on human health are emerging, and the evidence is not comforting. The compounds appear to affect women's fertility and children's physical and mental development.

The compounds in question are bromine-containing flame retardants, abbreviated PBDEs, which have been added to furniture foam, carpet pads and the plastics surrounding electronics like computers, cell phones, and televisions to comply with laws requiring a certain resistance to fire.

"The good news is that PBDEs are really being phased out," said Kim Harley of the University of California, Berkeley, who authored the study on fertility. Two types of PBDEs have not been used in new products in the United States since 2004, while the third type will be phased out by 2013.


more:
http://news.discovery.com/human/flame-retardants-infertility.html

Most people in this country are sleeping on these chemicals every night.