Children accumulate PBDEs way more than adults do

Flame Retardant Levels 3 Times Higher in Young Children
Monday, 15 September 2008


It appears that our youngest children - the children most susceptible to harm from pollutants - are more heavily contaminated with flame retardants than we are. According to testing performed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), toddlers and preschoolers had flame retardant levels on the average three times higher than their mothers.

It was a little frightening to find out the EWG's laboratory analyses of blood samples collected from 20 children and their mothers revelead that the children - between the ages of 18 montsh and 4 years - were an average of 3.2 times higher than their mothers. In total, the EWG reports that 11 different flame retardants were found in the children, and 86% of the thime the flame retardants were present at levels higher in the children than their mothers.

So what are these chemicals?

The chemicals are polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PBDEs are a class of chemicals that have been and are used as flame retardants. They are added to various consumer products to make them less flammable.

Read the rest of the article here at Smart Mama blog