Latest Issue of Science News   Flaming Out? Days may be numbered
for two fire retardants  This August, at a meeting of
Environmental Protection Agency scientists who are studying
emerging pollutants, one family of chemicals unexpectedly stole
the show: brominated flame retardants. Recently slated for bans
in Europe and California, two classes of these compounds–mixes
of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)–have had a low profile
within the agency. But rank-and-file chemists and toxicologists
raised what became the meeting's central question: What would it
take for EPA to consider nationwide bans?  As it turns out, the
U.S. manufacturer of both flame retardants has taken things into
its own hands.