ot: ACS: PBDE contamination in all food containing animal fats - press-contact info for journal article

[Guest guest]

[Folks, some of the thimerosal reporters may be interested in a change

of pace - the extent to which we're eating flame retardants (PBDEs). By

the way, they're better tasting with Green Tobasco. -]

Flame retardants found on supermarket shelves

Public release date: 1-Sep-2004

Contact: Bernstein <m_bernstein@...>

202-872-6042

American Chemical Society

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-09/acs-rf090104.php

A new study has found flame retardant chemicals, called PBDEs, in foods

taken straight from supermarket shelves in Dallas, Texas, suggesting that

food may be a key source of the contamination measured in people around the

world.

The report, which was published online Sept. 1 by Environmental Science &

Technology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the

world's largest scientific society, revealed higher levels of flame

retardants in the foods here than similar market studies from other

countries.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) - used widely as flame-retardant

additives in electronics and in polyurethane foam used for carpet padding,

mattresses, chairs, sofas and other furniture - have been detected in humans

across the globe, but scientists are not certain how they are getting there.

" Our paper is the first U.S. market basket food survey for brominated flame

retardants, " says the study's lead author Arnold Schecter, M.D., M.P.H., an

environmental health expert at the University of Texas' School of Public

Health in Dallas.

Schecter and his coworkers tested 32 food samples from three major

supermarket chains in Dallas. " We found PBDE contamination in all food

containing animal fats, " Schecter says, with the highest levels in fish,

followed by meat and then dairy products. PBDEs are most soluble in fats, so

they tend to accumulate in animal and human tissues.

Only two other similar market basket studies have been done - in Spain and

Japan - and the U.S. levels were higher than both, according to the Texas

study.

The Spanish study reported an upper level of 340 parts per trillion (ppt),

while the most contaminated sample in the Texas study was a salmon filet

with a concentration of more than 3,000 ppt. Likewise, the median

concentration of PBDEs in meat from Dallas supermarkets was more than twice

the maximum levels in meat from both the Spanish and Japanese surveys.

The researchers did not speculate on why levels in samples from Dallas

supermarkets were higher than in the other two studies.

" Although these findings are preliminary, they suggest that food is a major

route of intake for PBDEs, " Schecter says.

The researchers recently reported high levels of PBDEs in breast milk of 47

women in Dallas and Austin - the highest levels found in the world to date.

They selected three major supermarket chains in Dallas for the new study and

sampled well-known brands, assuming these were foods the women would

probably have eaten.

It is important to note, however, that supermarkets in the United States

often receive food from distant parts of the country. Schecter plans to

extend the research to a larger study of foods from across the United States

to better understand how people are exposed to flame retardants through

their diets.

Little is known about the specific toxic effects of brominated flame

retardants, but their increasing presence in human tissue is cause for

concern because they have been associated with cancer, endocrine disruption

and impaired brain development in animal studies, according to the

researchers.

The European Union has banned two types of PBDEs - the penta and octa

formulations - and is currently considering a ban on a third type, the deca

formulation. Officials in the United States are still debating the fate of

flame retardants, although the main U.S. manufacturer recently announced

plans to discontinue production of the penta and octa formulations as part

of a voluntary agreement with the U.S. EPA.

###

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by the

U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than 159,000

chemists and chemical engineers. It publishes numerous scientific journals

and databases, convenes major research conferences and provides educational,

science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in

Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

- Gorss

The online version of the research paper cited above was initially published

Sept. 1 on the journal's Web site and will appear in the journal's Oct. 15

print edition. Journalists can arrange access to the journal's Web site by

sending an e-mail to newsroom@... or calling the contact person for this

release.

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