Sep 26 2006
Results of a study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health1 recently announced by the CREDO research cluster has shown that brominated diphenyl ethers (BDE) levels in breast milk are decreasing in Europe since the late 1990s. The BDEs identified in the samples are all related to the commercial flame retardant penta-BDE, which use is restricted.
The decrease follows a voluntary industry action phasing out the use of Penta-BDE at global level and an EU regulatory restriction which came into effect in 2004.
The human exposure study analysed serum and breast milk collected from volunteers in Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Norway in 2003- 2004. The research was conducted under the FIRE project umbrella, part of a European research project on potential endocrine disruptors.
This study confirms previous findings in Sweden2, and suggests that Penta-BDE is not as persistent as it was first thought.
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