Substitutes for toxic flame retardants.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Safer alternatives to the flame retardants now used in consumer and commercial products, including building insulation and products with flexible polyurethane foam, have been announced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"This is great news for consumers and industry," maintains Jim Jones, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Washington, D.C. "We will now have safer alternatives for use in our products from furniture to car seats to building insulation."

Flame retardant chemicals such as HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane) and pentaBDE (pentabromodiphenyl ether) raise concerns for human health and the environment, including potential reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects and can...