Flame Retardant Found in fish

A ubiquitous flame retardant is finding its way into San Francisco Bay fish, according to a study recently conducted by a California state toxics lab for the nonprofit organization Environmental Working Group (EWG). Used as a flame retardant in products ranging from computers to carpets, PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are known to cause permanent neurological and developmental damage to humans. Scientists found PBDEs in every fish tested in the study, causing Sonya Lunder, the study’s principal author, to dub the neurotoxin “a public health time bomb.” Also, since 1997, PBDE levels had risen by 145% in halibut and 240% in striped bass, two of the bay’s most commonly eaten fish species.

The average PBDE concentrations in the breast tissue, breast milk, and blood of Bay Area women are the highest reported in the world, ranging from 3 to 30 times higher than levels measured in Scandinavia, Europe, and Japan. Scientists are unsure how PBDEs get into the environment and why the Bay Area is such a hotbed of contamination. Although the European Union has banned two of the most common PBDEs (to take effect next year), the United States has no parallel controls. If the California Legislature’s pending ban on some PBDEs passes, California will become the first state in the nation to regulate the neurotoxin.