Green Newton

We have an opportunity this year to fight against an invisible health threat that pervades our environment, our homes, and our bodies: flame retardant chemicals! For years, these toxins have been added to consumer items like upholstered furniture and children’s products, based largely on misguided policy decisions from the 1970s. We now know that flame retardants are a threat to our health and do not provide a meaningful increase to fire safety. It is time for them to go!

Fortunately, there is something you can do RIGHT NOW to protect your health from these insidious toxins: write to your state legislators and ask them to support legislation that would phase out flame retardants from upholstered furniture and kid’s products in Massachusetts.

Still not convinced? Here are the 5 top reasons why flame retardants should be a thing of the past:
1) Flame retardants just don’t stay put…
They migrate easily out of the products we use every day and into our homes and bodies, where they build up and persist for years!
2) Health impacts can be deadly…
Far from saving lives, these toxic chemicals have been linked to cancer, neurological disorders, reproductive issues and a host of other significant health problems.
3) Fire Fighters are fighting more than just fires…
Fire fighters are exposed to a toxic soup of flame retardants and other chemicals when they enter burning buildings. A study by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found higher rates of cancer in 30,000 U.S. firefighters than the general population.
4) Our most vulnerable are most at risk…
Since flame-retardant chemicals bio accumulate (build up through the food chain), they are found in breast milk and easily enter the blood stream of infants during their most important phases of physical and mental development.
5) We can have fire safety without flame retardants…
There are safe, non-toxic methods of protecting the public from the threat of fires: sprinkler systems, smoke alarms, and inherently flame resistant fabrics have proven highly effective at increasing fire safety.

CLICK HERE to protect fire fighters, infants, and others from exposure to toxic flame retardants!

Reprinted from Action Alert from the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow