Study: Toxic PBDEs Are 10 Times Higher in California

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A team of researchers led by the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Mass. just published a study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology that shows that the levels of PBDEs—fire-retardant chemicals used in furniture, bedding, and other household items—are ten times higher in California households than in other areas of the country. Just as worrying, the study shows that California residents have twice the amount of PBDEs in their bloodstream than do people living elsewhere.

Why? The LA Times speculates that the high levels of PBDEs could be attributed to a law California passed 30 years ago requiring furniture and bedding to contain enough of the chemicals so that the items could resist ignition for 12 seconds if held to an open flame.

Writes the Times:

The research team, which also included scientists from UC Berkeley, Brown University in Rhode Island and Communities for a Better Environment, a California environmental activist group, collected samples from 49 homes in the San Francisco Bay Area cities of Richmond and Bolinas and 120 homes on Cape Cod and compared levels in those homes with published levels from Canada, Europe and several U.S. cities.

Levels in California homes were 10 times higher than those on Cape Cod, five times higher than those in Texas, six times higher than those in Washington, D.C., four times higher than those in Boston and 200 times higher than those in Europe, where the chemicals are used sparingly.

Perhaps it’s time to ditch your chemical mattress?

—Katie Flynn

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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