Protect Lake Michigan In the News

By Nate Hoekstra
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2007
SPRINGFIELD — A suburban lawmaker wants to ban a fire retardant chemical found in many TVs and other common household electronics in Illinois, but the chemical industry and business groups say she’s on a “witch hunt” along with environmentalists.

State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat, said Tuesday that deca-BDE, the
bromine-based fireproofing chemical used in everything from television casings to living room furniture and mattresses is toxic and poses a threat to children.

Her plan would ban the use of the chemical here.

Advocates of the ban said children could be exposed to the chemical through everything from breast milk to household dust. The chemical, they say, has the potential to break down into more harmful chemicals, including carcinogens, and can hurt the developing brains of children.

“There are safer alternatives,” said Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist at Duke University who testified in support of the ban.

But business groups and chemical industry representatives say the chemical is one of the safest, most effective fire retardants available.

“This is a product that saves lives by preventing fires in the first place, and slowing down the growth of those fires that do occur,” said Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois.

The fire retardant is the most studied chemical on the market, Biel and other ban opponents said.

That back-and-forth continued for nearly two hours Tuesday afternoon as experts from both sides of the issue debated the pros and cons of such a ban in a state House committee meeting.

The proposed ban comes about two years after state lawmakers banned similar bromine-based chemicals because they posed a health hazard.

A state House committee passed Nekritz’s proposal 7-5 Tuesday. It now goes before the full House.

Supporters said Illinois would be the first governmental body in the world to ban the chemical, although a few other states are considering bans too.