Duke Researcher Receives $2.2 Million NIH Grant to Study Children’s Exposure to Flame Retardants

The study, “Children’s Exposure to Flame Retardants: Effects on Thyroid Hormone Regulation,” focuses on determining the extent to which children are exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame-retardant chemicals that are present in indoor air and dust.

“Children get exposed to these compounds on a daily basis, and we know very little about what effects this might have,” says Stapleton.

In addition to investigating the extent of exposure, Stapleton and her team will investigate what effects exposure to PBDEs may have on children’s thyroid hormone regulation, which can potentially affect their development.

PBDEs have been used for decades to reduce flammability in many common household items, including furniture, mattresses, televisions, cell phones and other electronic products. They are long-lasting compounds that can persist in the environment for decades. When people throw items with flame-retardants into landfills, the PBDEs leach into the soil and make their way into surrounding ecosystems. They can then accumulate in the tissues of fish and other animals.

Through the process of biomagnification, these levels can become quite high.

Traces of PBDEs have even been found in human blood and breast milk, but it is unknown what effects these contaminants might have on human health.

As of yet there is no federal ban on the commercial use of PBDEs in North America. U.S. manufacturers have voluntarily phased out use of two of the three commercial PBDE mixtures, but the use of the remaining mixture, DecaBDE, along with the increasing use of alternative brominated flame retardant chemicals, continues to cause concern about human health.

Children are especially susceptible to high PBDE levels because of their crawling and mouthing behaviors, which exposes them to indoor dust that contains elevated levels of these contaminants.

Stapleton previously has studied how PBDEs distribute themselves in the tissues of fish, and how certain fish metabolize them. More recently, she has begun to examine human exposures to these contaminants.