"Flame Retardant Exposure Poses A Significant Health Risk to Women"

"New research links exposure to these toxic chemicals to thyroid problems, especially in post-menopausal women".

"Exposure to flame retardant chemicals has become nearly ubiquitous in the United States thanks to fire safety standards that, until recently, could rarely be met without their use. This has meant that furniture foams, mattress and carpet padding, and numerous other consumer products and building materials are loaded up with flame retardants. Now a new study published in the journal Environmental Health suggests that exposure to one of the most widely used class of flame retardants, called polybrominated diphenyl ethers or  PBDEs, may increase the risk of thyroid hormone problems for women, especially post-menopausal women.

PBDEs are among the most widely used flame retardants that are known to migrate out of products. They have been found in household dust, food, in animals and nearly everywhere else scientists have looked. PBDEs have previously raised health concerns because of their environmental persistence, their ability to build up in fat tissue and because some have been linked to cancer in animal studies. Additional studies have shown PBDEs to interfere with endocrine hormones, including thyroid hormones.

While many studies have looked at the effects of early life exposure to PBDEs, this new study, led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is the first to look at how these chemicals affect people who are exposed to it later in life."

Elizabeth Grossman reports for Earth Island Journal May 24, 2016.