A Public Interest Guide to Toxic Flame Retardant Chemicals

9. CONCLUSION
Toxic chemicals marketed as flame retardants pose a threat to human health and the
environment. These substances are widely incorporated into our consumer products but
do not provide a fire safety benefit. Instead, they increase the toxicity of a fire through
greater release of smoke, soot, carbon monoxide, and highly toxic substances such as
dioxins and furans. Surprisingly, companies incorporate toxic flame retardant chemicals
into products without knowing or providing comprehensive safety information about
them. The current data shows substances resembling PCBs in furniture and other substances
in products that are carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, and harmful in many
other ways. Toxic flame retardant chemicals are released over time and contaminate our
homes, our bodies, and our environment, even in places far from production and use. For
decades, the chemical industry has responded to government and public concerns by
removing one toxic flame retardant chemical only to replace it with another toxic flame
retardant chemical. In addition, the industry has strongly lobbied for fire regulations and
codes that protect sales, not lives. Toxic flame retardant chemicals are not a necessary
evil. Sensible fire safety codes exist and safer alternatives are available; many of them
are not even chemicals. The key to a healthier future lies in public awareness about this
harmful class of substances and public interest actions to reform how chemicals are produced,
used, and substituted so that harms from toxic chemical exposure can ultimately
be eliminated.
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