Washington House Democrats

Environment

Toxic Flame Retardants

In a departure from my normal focus on education and budget issues I am the prime sponsor this year of a significant piece of legislation banning the use of a category of toxic industrial chemicals used as flame retardants in the manufacture of plastics used in electronics and foam in furniture. These are known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs.

I'm interested in this because it's a children's issue. These chemicals are so ubiquitous that they appear in almost every sample of human breast milk and in the foods we eat and have been linked to neurological development damage in mammals. My bill had a great hearing on Feb. 17th. The room was packed with supporters. I thought the evidence presented was overwhelming. I've worked hard to make the bill practical and reasonable to comply with. For example, we exempt transportation vehicles because they are usually regulated very tightly by the federal government agencies like the FAA and anything we would do is pre-empted by the federal government.