According to a new study flame retardants are very pervasive at preschools and day care centers nowadays, possibly divulging children to chemicals that are known to be hazardous to their health.
The study led by UC Berkeley researchers was published online Thursday, May 15, in the journal Chemosphere. The researcher was funded by the California Air Resources Board.
This study represents the first methodical review of flame retardants in early child care settings.
For the purpose air and floor dust samples were collected from 40 child care centers serving more than 1,760 children in Monterey and Alameda counties. The researchers tested the samples for potentially dangerous flame retardant chemicals.
The facilities were located in a mix of urban, rural and agricultural areas. The test was made for 14 different PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and four non-PBDE flame retardants, including tris phosphate compounds in 100 percent of the dust samples collected.
Median levels of PBDEs were slightly lower than those found in homes in other studies, but median levels of chlorinated tris were analogous to or higher than household levels found in preceding studies.
“These findings underscore how widespread these materials are in indoor environments,” said study lead author Asa Bradman, associate director of the Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research at UC Berkeley. “A growing body of research has found links between flame retardants and a range of human health effects, including neurodevelopmental delays in children. Children are more vulnerable to the health effects of environmental contaminants, so we should be particularly careful to reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals.”
Out of the total facilities surveyed, 29 had upholstered furniture and 17 had napping equipment that enclosed foam. Facilities with foam products had considerably higher concentrations of flame retardant chemicals than the centers deprived of such equipment.
Bradman said the higher tris levels were mainly associated to the mats children nap on as well as furniture.
Ellen Dektar, senior management analyst with Alameda County’s Early Care and Education Planning Council, said a small but growing number of child care facilities are becoming more selective in the products they use and are encouraging “green” and “eco-healthy” certification and standards.
“Child care professionals are really idealistic and would do anything for the children they’re taking care of,” she said.
At Montessori School at Five Canyons in Castro Valley, director Meher Van Groenou said she has been promoting healthful and environmentally friendly practices since she founded the school in 2002. “We really would like to completely give up those foam things but haven’t found the best product yet,” Van Groenou said. The Montessori school was not part of the study, she said.
To reduce flame retardant exposure, UC Berkeley’s Asa Bradman provided the people with the following guidelines:
- Vacuum daily with a HEPA filter and use a wet mop to minimize dust.
- Wash hands frequently.
- Buy wooden furniture or cushions filled with polyester, down, wool or cotton.
- Look for the TB117-2013 tag on new furniture, and verify that the product is flame retardant-free.
- Consider the Green Science Policy Institute’s Safer Sofa Foam Exchange program, which can connect those in the San Francisco Bay Area with a supplier of foam that is free of flame retardants.
Other co-authors of the study include researchers from the Battelle Memorial Institute in Ohio, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the California Air Resources Board.