PBDEs linked to delays in development CHEMICALS

The same warning label used since 1975 is visible on the bottom of a desk chair at the home Judy Levin, in Oakland, Ca., on Friday June 22, 2012. California has the opportunity to set the tone for a new national furniture fire-safety standard to replace the state's decades-old requirement that had led to the use of toxic flame retardants in couches, chairs and baby product sold throughout North America. less The same warning label used since 1975 is visible on the bottom of a desk chair at the home Judy Levin, in Oakland, Ca., on Friday June 22, 2012. California has the opportunity to set the tone for a new ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close PBDEs linked to delays in development 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Flame retardant compounds pervasive in most California households appear to delay the neurodevelopment of children exposed to the chemicals from the womb through the first years of life, UC Berkeley researchers say in a new study.

Researchers say their findings, published Thursday, add to worries about a class of endocrine-disrupting compounds called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, that are widely used in furniture, infant products, electronics and other goods.

Studies have shown California children have among the highest concentrations of the chemicals in the world, likely because of the state's strict fire-safety law, enacted in 1975, which requires that furniture withstand 12 seconds of flame without catching fire. Manufacturers used large amounts of PBDEs to comply.

Some of the chemicals have been banned and phased out since the law took effect, but Gov. Jerry Brown has called on state agencies to revise the regulations to reduce toxic chemicals in furniture even further.

The new study is the largest to show that children exposed to PBDEs tend to have poorer attention, motor skills and IQ scores, said Brenda Eskenazi, the lead author and director of UC Berkeley's Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health.

One in a series

The report, which appears in the current issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, is the latest in a long-running series of studies to examine various chemicals' health effects on Mexican American families in the Salinas Valley. But "this is not just about Mexican American farmworkers' kids," Eskenazi said. "This is all of us living here."

Eskenazi's research team focused on types of PBDEs that were banned and phased out in 2004.

Products made before 2004 are well-used, and as they have disintegrated, they released their PBDEs, which then stuck to dust, toys and other objects that kids touch, Eskenazi said. New products are made with compounds that are structurally similar to the chemicals and potentially harmful, but not banned.

Eskenazi said even small doses of PBDEs can be harmful since they stay in humans for up to 12 years. "They have very long lives in our bodies and environments, so they're going to build up," she said.

Researchers collected blood samples from about 300 women when they were pregnant and their children when they were 7. PBDEs were detected in more than 97 percent of the mothers and children alike, a figure on par with the U.S. population, researchers said.

At ages 5 and 7, the children also took a slew of tests that evaluated their attention spans, motor skills and IQs.

Researchers found that the higher the concentrations of PBDEs in mothers and children, the lower the children tended to score on some tests. Youth whose mothers had the highest amounts of PBDEs in their blood during their pregnancies, for example, had verbal IQs that were on average six points lower than those whose mothers had the lowest levels.

Attention problems

That correlation also surfaced in games that tested children's ability to concentrate. The mothers with the highest levels of PBDEs when they were pregnant were more likely to have kids who had problems paying attention and therefore a higher probability of having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, researchers said.

Finally, increased exposure to the chemicals appeared to decrease the children's motor skills. The higher the concentrations of PBDEs in mothers, the less successful their children were in quickly sticking pegs in a pegboard, the study found.

The exact ways in which PBDEs delay cognitive development are still under investigation. Studies involving animals have shown that the chemicals are endocrine disruptors that affect thyroid hormones and also seem to hurt some neurotransmitters that enable communication between brain cells, Eskenazi said.

The American Chemistry Council said the report "does not appear to show clear evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship between exposures and the observed behaviors." The industry group also argued that "fires continue to be a major safety concern that disproportionately affect the elderly and the very young, and flame retardants play an important role in mitigating fire-related deaths and injuries."

'Gives one pause'

But Tracey Woodruff, director of UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, said the study "definitely gives one pause about the potential neurological effects of PBDEs."

It presents another reason to overhaul California's fire-safety law, said Judy Levin, pollution prevention co-director at the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland.

"This is why we need to move quickly on the governor's promised revision for our state furniture flammability standards," she said. "We need to protect kids from toxic chemicals."

To reduce exposure to PBDEs, scientists recommend that people seal tears in couches and upholstered furniture, mop and vacuum often, and frequently wash their hands after exposure. But it is almost impossible to avoid the chemicals entirely.

"These are chemicals that are going to be in our furniture and homes for probably two to three more decades," Levin said.