Keeping chemicals out of the homeTHANKS FOR putting PBDEs, the flame retardants suspected of causing learning and reproductive effects, on the front page where this critical health issue belongs ("Fire retardants' effects arouse safety debate," June 14). In the only comprehensive study of exposure to PBDEs in US homes, the Silent Spring Institute found levels in Cape Cod homes 10 times higher than in European homes, where these chemicals are being phased out.
We also found the carcinogenic flame retardant tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate, banned in 1977 -- another signal that it's better to keep chemicals out of our homes when we have good reason to believe they will later be found harmful. When industry says there's no proof of health effects for PBDEs, they're talking about waiting until levels in our babies get high enough that we can measure an effect on their IQ years later. Why wait for that?
RUTHANN RUDEL
The writer is the project director for the Silent Spring Institute's household exposure study. The institute is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to studying women's health and the environment. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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