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 Scientists say that adding flame retardants in couches has not resulted in a proven ability to reduce fire deaths. (Photo: City of Frisco) From Green Right Now Reports A group of 145 prominent scientists from 22 countries has signed a first-ever consensus statement documenting health hazards from flame retardant chemicals found at high levels in home furniture, electronics, insulation, and other products. The group wants o change widespread policies that require use of flame retardants. The San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants, signed last week, documents how this pervasive class of chemicals is likely to cause serious health harm and limited fire safety benefit. Dr. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Dr. Ake Bergman of Stockholm University, wrote an editorial for Environmental Health Perspectives, in which they said, “Adequate toxicity information is lacking but data indicate that the group contains compounds that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, reproductive and developmental toxicants, neurotoxicants, and endocrine disruptors.” The scientists said that adding flame retardants in couches has not resulted in a proven ability to reduce fire deaths. “The retardants can burn in seconds, and increase fire toxicity and hazard, ” Arlene Blum, PHD, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, said in a statement. “They are used at high levels because of an outdated California flammability standard called Technical Bulletin 117. We can have improved fire safety without toxicity. It’s time to change this obsolete policy.” Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants escape from consumer products into the environment and become intruders in people’s blood, breast milk, and tissues, the scientists said. They cross the placenta, entering the fetus, and some impair brain development, with permanent adverse effects on learning and behavior. Some chemical retardants interfere with sexual development, or are likely to cause cancer. “Existing laws do not give our government the authority to protect us from such chemicals, even when we know they are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic,” Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, with Science & Environmental Health Network, said. While a global ban on some brominated flame retardants is proceeding under the Stockholm Convention, manufacturers are replacing them with related flame retardant chemicals that may be just as harmful. The San Antonio Statement supports development of safer alternative chemicals and innovative changes in the design of products to achieve fire safety. More informationFrom Green Right Now Reports A new video campaign that encourages people to refuse disposable plastics has launched on YouTube. The initiative aims to get people to sign on to Plastic Pollution Coalition’s REFUSE pledge to REFUSE disposable plastics like bags, water bottles, straws, plastic utensils, and other items. The Plastic Pollution Coalition is aiming for one million signatories by Saturday, Nov. 6, when the TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch event will be held at Santa Monica’s Annenberg Community Beach House. Plastic Pollution Coalition is encouraging people to make their own videos and share them online to help seed the end to use of disposable plastics.. TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch is a one-day event that will bring together global thought leaders from the fields of technology, science, arts and entertainment, design, community activism, and business in a dialog on the theme of “The Global Plastic Pollution Crisis.” In the past few years, the world has become aware of the Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, a gyre of trash estimated to be at a minimum the size of the state of Texas and possibly as large at the United States. 90% of this trash patch is comprised of plastic. Similar areas of plastic pollution exist throughout the world – in all the world’s oceans, in seemingly unlikely places such as the Arabian Desert, along some of the most pristine beaches of the world, in cities and rivers, and even within our bodies. The TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch event, which will be streamed live, will feature experts, youth leaders, visual and performing artists, actors, musicians, politicians and others as they share observations on how plastic pollution affects ocean/environmental health and public health. The event also will explore solutions for reducing our plastic footprint, and begin to develop ideas about eliminating plastic pollution through individual action as well as public- and private-sector innovation. Dr. Sylvia Earle, Captain Charles Moore, Van Jones, Ferris Thompson, Chris Jordan, Fabien Cousteau, David de Rothschild, Chris Malloy, Jackson Browne, Ed Begley Jr., and His Excellency John Dramani Mahama are among the presenters scheduled to speak at the forum. In a commitment to keep a low carbon footprint, and to encourage and empower global engagement and action, this important event will be streamed live to locations around the world. Please contact us if you are interested in organizing a virtual event. Locations will be listed on the website as they are added. A live webcast of the event will be available on the day of the event through the website. Due to space limitation, attendance is by invitation only. About Plastic Pollution Coalition Plastic Pollution Coalition (www.PlasticPollutionCoalition.org) is a global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to end plastic pollution, and its toxic impacts on people, animals and the environment. About TEDx In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self organized. *This independent TEDx event is operated under license from TED. About TED TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCumZMU1y4E Around the world, water quality is a huge concern. But some new technology that may help clean water of excess nutrients takes a cue from nature itself. VOA’s Rebecca Ward reports: |
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