  Health risks of PBDEs  Mother's Milk: Health risks of PBDEs
September 23, 2003  A growing body of research in laboratory
animals has linked PBDE exposure to an array of adverse health
effects including thyroid hormone disruption, permanent learning
and memory impairment, behavioral changes, hearing deficits,
delayed puberty onset, decreased sperm count, fetal
malformations and, possibly, cancer. Research in animals shows
that exposure to brominated fire retardants in-utero or during
infancy leads to more significant harm than exposure during
adulthood, and at much lower levels. And some of these studies
have found toxic effects at levels lower than are now detected
in American women. Many questions remain, but new evidence
raises concerns that low levels of PBDE exposure pose a
significant health risk to developing animals, and may pose a
health risk to fetuses, infants and children at levels currently
detected in American women.  The indication that PBDEs can cause
subtle neurological deficits in developi