The Environmental Protection Agency is manipulating safety data around a highly toxic flame retardant deployed across the US economy, public health advocates allege. The chemical, TBBPA, has been found in dust in US homes and in consumer goods at combined levels that independent research has found may present a danger to the public, and especially small children. The agency is considering restrictions for the flame retardant, and advocates say the fight is the latest example of the Trump administration teaming up with the industry to downplay the risks of a highly toxic and profitable chemical.
While European agencies and international cancer organizations have found that TBBPA is, or is probably, a carcinogen, the in its new draft risk assessment used what public health groups say is a highly unusual approach to conclude that it is not carcinogenic at levels it suggests the US public and children are exposed to. The agency also relies heavily on industry science that underestimates the chemicals’ toxicity and levels that people are exposed to throughout the day, environmental groups allege. The chemical is so widely used that the public can be exposed through a range of routes, but the does not take into account many of those.
If approved, the risk assessment will be used to set regulations for the flame retardant. The agency in its assessment said there was no “unreasonable risk” to consumers or children despite the chemical’s widespread use, and suggested no restrictions on TBBPA’s application to consumer goods was needed. They’ve been doing that pretty consistently under Trump.” TBBPA, a brominated flame retardant, is applied to circuit boards and cases for electronics, like computers, phones, microwaves, toasters, televisions and other small appliances.
It is also used in products like toothbrushes, children’s clothing, carpeting, leather goods, automobiles, airplanes, furniture and a broad range of other textiles and plastics. The chemical is linked to hormone disruption, brain damage, immune system toxicity and developmental harms in children, including to the reproductive and nervous systems. The International Agency for Research on Cancer labels it a probable carcinogen.
TBBPA’s global production is difficult to track, but at least 552m lbs were made in 2016, and it is in an estimated 70% of electronics worldwide. Research has found flame retardants are often unnecessary and ineffective in a range of uses. The US approved its wide use decades ago, but the is required to review updated science for some toxic chemicals already on the market.
The chemical very easily breaks free from consumer goods and ends up in dust. The levels that have been found in homes’ dust combined with daily exposure to all the other sources are a risk for the public, especially children, advocates warn. Infants and toddlers who crawl in the dust and put their hands in their mouths are especially vulnerable.” The did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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