Sep 28 2006
The WWF[1] study released on 21 September 2006 did not find any of the current commercial brominated flame retardants in food samples. Contrary to the WWF press release stating “Industrial chemicals such as (…) flame retardants have been found in food (…)”, the report’s findings only concern the constituents of the flame retardant Penta-BDE. The use of Penta-BDE is banned in the EU since 2004 and Penta-BDE is not produced or marketed any longer.
Furthermore, the levels of the constituents of Penta-BDE found do not present a risk to health - a recent UK Food Safety Authority study[2] on the presence of brominated flame retardants in composite food groups samples showed that the estimated dietary exposure to brominated compounds does not have implications for health. The levels found in the WWF study were significantly lower than those found by the UK FSA assessment, indicating an even higher margin of safety.
The presence of Penta-BDE in food is most probably related to its incidence in the environment. Recent scientific evidence indicates that levels of Penta-BDE’s components are falling in the European environment[3], making levels found in food likely to decrease further in the future.
In this context, EBFRIP recognises the importance of reducing the levels of industrial chemicals in the environment and has launched a voluntary emissions control programme (VECAP) for its commercially available brominated flame retardants with the support of European regulatory authorities.
www.ebfrip.org