Mothers and Firefighters Join Asm. Mark Leno in Calling for Ban on Toxic Fire Retardants

SACRAMENTO, CA— Mothers, firefighters, researchers and public health and environmental activists came together Tuesday on the steps of the State Capitol in support of Assemblyman Mark Leno’s AB 706, which would create a smarter and improved fire-safety standard for upholstered furniture, mattresses and other bedding products, without the use of brominated and chlorinated chemicals currently used as fire retardants in California.

“Our young children whose bodies are still developing and our firefighters who risk their lives to save others, are exposed most to toxic fire retardant chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and learning disabilities. Childhood exposure begins in the womb and then through breast milk and continually thereafter through dust they breathe. Its no wonder their tiny bodies carry some of the highest levels of these poisonous chemicals,” said Assemblyman Leno.

AB 706 would prohibit the use of brominated and chlorinated fire retardants in upholstered furniture and bedding products such as pillows, comforters, and mattresses. It also would extend the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation’s authority to take chemical exposure risks into consideration when setting furniture safety standards.

AB 706 is co-sponsored by the Bluewater Network and Making Our Milk Safe (MOMS). “We cannot ignore what science already has told us about these dangerous chemicals. It’s irresponsible to continue exposing children to potentially toxic fire retardants linked to serious health effects when there are safer alternatives that would prevent fires,” said Mary Brune, co-founder of MOMS.

“When people think about the dangers firefighters face on the job, heat and the flames are what comes to mind,” said Judi Cutaia, Captain with the Davis Fire Department. “But as a firefighter and cancer survivor, I know that the greatest threats we face are more likely to be the countless unseen and potentially deadly toxins that we are exposed to every time we answer a call. Fire retardants save lives, but the price of that safety shouldn’t be the health of the people they are designed to protect.”

Halogenated chemicals such as brominated and chlorinated fire retardants are increasingly present in humans. Fire retardants such as PBDEs are 40 times greater in U.S. women’s breast milk than they were in the 1970’s. Brominated fire retardants are found at the highest levels in babies and toddlers. Mothers pass these chemicals on to their children during nursing. Additionally when burned, brominated fire retardants are converted into dioxin and furans, exposing firefighters to dangerous levels of these toxic and cancer-causing chemicals.

Studies link exposure to even the lowest concentrations of certain fire retardants to endocrine disruption with far reaching health effects in adults, children, and developing fetuses that include cancer, birth defects, reproductive problems, disrupt thyroid hormone balance, hearing deficits, and contribute to a variety of neurological and developmental deficits, including low intelligence and learning disabilities.