Are flame retardants in our food supply?

• Position: Contamination - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame retardants commonly used in consumer products around the world, and an emerging environmental contaminant, have been reported in increasing concentrations in people. Little is known about the toxicology or method of ingestion of these compounds. However, more than 140,000,000 pounds are produced annually worldwide, while production of other environmentally persistent chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides, has been curtailed.

"The worry is that PBDEs, like other persistent and ubiquitous contaminants ... are in the environment ... not only in fish and in various foods--such as meat, milk, and eggs--but also in substantial quantities in indoor air," warns Alex Trent, executive director, Salmon of the Americas, Princeton, N.J. "While there is little that salmon farmers can do about PBDEs in the environment, we are taking steps now to identity ways to keep them out of farmed salmon. By tracking levels and analyzing the sources of contaminants early on, we intend to deal with the issue before it becomes a food safety problem in the hopes that other food producing groups will follow suit.

"There are no established guidelines or tolerances yet from the Food and Drug Administration or any other regulatory body," adds Trent. Currently, several organizations are working on developing the proper methodology to determine levels and several comprehensive market basket studies are in the planning stages. This will define the PBDE levels in all foods.

Experts explain that insufficient information is...