This week firefighters and health groups pushed the Maryland legislature to ban a class of flame retardants called deca BDE. Manufacturers counter that the flame retardants, widely used over the past 25 years on everything from home furnishings to electronics, save lives. It seems odd that firefighters who are dedicated to saving lives should be lobbying against flame retardants. What does the scientific literature say about the effects of these chemicals on the brain?
Polybrominated biphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants are widespread environmental pollutants on a global scale, but the contamination is greatest in the United States. These chemicals are found in wildlife, human food, household dust, indoor air, and in humans themselves (both human tissue and mother's milk). The concentration is particularly high in infants and toddlers who are exposed through mother's milk and household dust. Levels of these compounds in the environment are four times higher in the United States than in Europe.
These chemicals mimic thyroid hormones and they can damage or kill cells by oxidative injury, the same chemical reaction that turns steel to rust, only in this case the reaction is applied to the body's proteins. Prenatal exposure to PBDEs interferes with neural development in experimental animals. Rats exposed to flame retardants during fetal development have a weakened ability to strengthen synaptic connections in the hippocampus of the brain, which is the fundamental cellular mechanism of forming long-term memory.
In a study conducted in the Netherlands and published in 2009, researchers measured the concentration of flame retardants in pregnant mothers in their 35th week of pregnancy, and then tested the 62 offspring after they reached five to fix years of age using standardized neuropsychological tests for motor performance, cognition, and behavior. The results showed that children from mothers with higher levels of flame retardants in their bodies during pregnancy had worse fine motor skills and poor attention, but the effects depended on the particular kind of flame retardant chemical in the mother's body. A recent paper published by A. Messer in Physiological Behavior (January 2010), implicates PBDEs in autism.
Interestingly, the oxidative damage caused by these compounds can be counteracted by glial cells, called astrocytes. Astrocytes are known to release powerful antioxidants. When neurons were exposed to PBDE flame retardants in cell culture they were killed, but if astrocytes were added to the cultures, the neurons were protected. These findings are published by G. Giordano and colleagues in the March, 2009 issue of the journal Neurotoxicology. Firefighters may be willing to fight fire with fire, but they are reluctant to fight fire with something that might stifle development of a child's brain.
Elizabeth Grossman: Fixing Our Broken Chemicals Policy
Chantal Sicile-Kira: HBO: A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism
Larry Eason: Chemicals and Our Endangered Children
Neil Zevnik: Before You Throw That Shrimp on the Barbie, a Few Words of Caution
And we've been pushing breastfeeding and Autism rates are skyrocketing . . . . .. hmmmmmm.
Interesting theory though.
Could this chemical be filtered out of water, cooked out of food, or filtered out of air?
One of their biggest impacts of bromine on the human body is the interference with iodine uptake. Iodine is an essential mineral needed by the thyroid and other glands. In women, the breasts and ovaries are also large users. Tests of several thousand women show virtually all are iodine deficient, leading to thyroid disorders, fibrocystic breasts, PCOS, and other hormonal disruptions. Bromides are neurotoxic, leading to a wide variety of nervous system disorders.
A small group of scientists and MDs have conducted research showing inorganic iodine/iodide supplementation can displace bromine from cells of the body, and force its excretion, ultimately detoxifying the body and reversing ill effects. Tests are available to measure bromine excretion as a function of iodine intake.
For details on this research, see the book "Iodine, Why You Need it, Why You Can't Live Without It," by David Brownstein, MD. The subject is also covered in some depth in "The Wellness Project".
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
I'm sure you didn't intend to be mean but parents of disabled children get offended by these type of comments.
Thanks for writing this article!
I remember how awful these kids were burned. The intention was good, the unintended consequences not so much.
It's not cheap, but it's probably money well spent.