Petition regarding EPA Testing of Household Products!

Hi Audrey, Just yesterday UC Berkeley released a study showing that certain flame-retardant chemicals in many household items may reduce a woman's ability to become pregnant. The study showed that women with high levels of chemicals known as PBDEs were 30 to 50 percent less likely to become pregnant! That is a staggering figure. Act Now! Chemicals MUST be tested before being allowed into your home. >> PBDEs are found in sofas, fabrics, electronics, drapes and plastics -- many items that remain in your home for years. The offending PBDEs are set to be phased out of use in 2013, but why were they allowed to be used in the first place? It is a disgrace to allow chemicals to be used that are not properly tested and proven to have no negative affect on human health. For years PBDEs have been present in our homes, and now we learn that they are affecting fertility - this has to stop. Stop the cycle of poorly tested products. Insist that the EPA properly test new flame-retardant chemicals BEFORE they allow them to be distributed. Act now! >> Thank you for taking action. Sincerely, Emily Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

We Can't let the EPA Give the go-Ahead to Toxic Chemicals in our Homes! About 97 percent of Americans have traceable amounts of PBDEs in their blood - 20 times higher than Europe and Asia. Forward to a friend >>

Household chemicals linked to reduced fertility

In a study published today, a decreased likelihood of pregnancy is linked to flame-retardant chemicals in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics and more. Californians may have higher exposures compared with residents of other states.

LA Times

By Shari Roan

January 26, 2010 | 9:00 a.m.

Flame-retardant chemicals found in many household consumer products may reduce fertility in women, researchers reported today. Their study joins several other papers published in the last two years suggesting that the chemicals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, affect human health.


PBDEs have been used as flame retardants for four decades and are found in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets and plastics. The chemicals are being phased out nationwide, and certain PBDEs have been banned for use in California. But they are still found in products made before 2004. Californians may have higher exposures compared with residents of other states because of the state's strict flammability laws, according to the study authors, from UC Berkeley.


Most of the previous research on the chemicals has been in animals. But a 2008 study linked the chemicals to disrupted thyroid levels in men, and a study published this month tied PBDE exposure in pregnancy to neurodevelopmental delays in young children.


"These are association studies. You can't show cause and effect," said Dr. Hugh Taylor, an expert on endocrine-disrupting chemicals at Yale University who was not involved in the new study. "But we have cause-and-effect studies in animals, and we have association studies in humans. I think that is fairly convincing."

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