HOLLAND, MI --Ridding the Great Lakes region of chemical flame retardants is a lofty goal, but Hope College chemistry professor Graham Peaslee says it’s a task worth fighting for.
He’s now got a little momentum on his side, thanks to a $100,000 federal grant to help reduce the prevalence of the toxic chemicals, known as PBDEs, which are found in products such as furniture, electronics and fabric.
Peaslee said he’ll use the grant to educate manufacturers and industry representatives about the health risks associated with flame retardants and urge them to stop using them in their products.
“They tend to be the most toxic chemicals we have,” Peaslee said. “They will accumulate in your body and cause all sorts of developmental disorders and cancer.”
Flame retardants have long been present in household items such as couches and baby products, but evidence has mounted in recent years detailing just how dangerous the chemicals can be, he said. The chemicals can leach out of products and settle in dust.
Peaslee’s grant is from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is part of the agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
He’ll use the funding to hire staffers from two organizations – the Green Science Policy Institute and Great Lakes Commission – who will be tasked with setting up meetings with representatives of three industries in the Great Lakes region: home furnishings, children’s wear and the auto industry.
Peaslee said the production of PBDEs has been “voluntarily discontinued” in the U.S. but the chemicals still wind up in products made overseas in countries such as China.
His staffers will try to convince manufactures why it’s in their interest to find ways to make their products without using PBDEs.
“The biggest challenge is convincing the manufacturers that this isn’t going to cost them money or market share,” he said. “It’s actually an opportunity if we can convince them that this is where consumers want to be.”
He thinks momentum is on his side.
In February, Peaslee said he and members of the Green Science Policy Institute told the Grand Rapids-based Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association about their goal.
And he points to companies that have voluntarily banned the chemicals from all their products. In 2011, Wal-Mart banned “the flame retardant from all of its consumer goods,” according to a story in the New York Times.
Recent media attention, including a series of stories in the Chicago Tribune, also has highlighted the issue, he said.
“People are beginning to fear the human health aspect,” he said.
In addition to setting up workshops, which are expected to begin in December, Peaslee will help by testing products suspected of containing the chemicals. He says that he’s developed a way of testing the products for about $5, compared with others who charge about $150.
The grant was part of the EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative because once products containing PBDEs wind up in landfills, the chemicals seep into the ground and could eventually wind up in the Great Lakes, he said.
“These particular chemicals are pretty toxic and we had better be careful about spreading them all over the environment because they are going to come back and bite our children,” he said.