Last week, as reported by Lyndsey Layton for The Washington Post, Wal-Mart has made a bold move to push its suppliers to stop using the controversial flame retardants, known as PBDEs or polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Can I just say – YAY Wal-Mart!?
While a few states have stepped up to ban this class of compounds found in many electronics, in much of our furniture (including baby furniture), children’s and infants’ pajamas, sporting goods, pet supplies, curtains, toys and much, much more, we have yet to see large-scale chemical legislation which would protect us and our loved ones. Why do we need protection from PBDEs? They’re causing significant and worrisome issues in the liver, thyroid, reproductive systems and brain development in animal models. Think about this: Our children are often sleeping on mattresses with PBDEs and wearing PJs with PBDEs…so they’re breathing the fumes for 9+ hours every night! Then, they spend many waking hours in classrooms and/or homes with computers, TVs and cell phones. Additionally, PBDEs are being found in our water supply and getting passed along to farm-raised fish.