Research Results
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2024
Toxicol Lett
A meta-analysis of 15 studies including 3,468 cancer cases and 4,187 controls found that brominated flame retardant (BFR) exposure in adipose tissue was significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk, though no association was observed for thyroid cancer. The analysis revealed that BFR exposure generally elevates the risk of endocrine-related cancers, with BDE-28—a lower-brominated congener—showing particularly strong associations with increased cancer risk. These findings identify BFRs as a significant environmental risk factor for breast cancer and suggest that certain BFR congeners may be more carcinogenic than others, though the authors emphasize the need for further research to establish causal mechanisms and clarify how these ubiquitous flame retardant chemicals disrupt endocrine function to promote cancer development.
2024
PNAS
This study examined the health impacts of three major plastic-associated chemicals—BPA, DEHP, and PBDEs—across 38 countries representing one-third of the global population. The researchers found that in 2015, these chemicals were linked to approximately 5.4 million cases of heart disease, 346,000 strokes, 164,000 deaths among older adults, and 11.7 million lost IQ points in children due to prenatal exposure. The total economic cost of these health impacts was estimated at $1.5 trillion. The study suggests that if exposure levels had been reduced earlier, hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of IQ points could have been prevented.
2023
Environ Pollut
A study analyzing breast milk from 50 U.S. mothers ten years after the PBDE phaseout detected 25 brominated flame retardants including 9 PBDEs (found in 100% of samples), 8 bromophenols (88% of samples), and 8 other BFRs, with PBDE concentrations showing a significant 70% decline since 2002 (median 15.0 ng/g lipid, halving time 12.2 years) but bromophenols and replacement flame retardants reaching concentrations up to 71.1 and 278 ng/g lipid respectively. This represents the first measurement of bromophenols and replacement flame retardants in U.S. breast milk, revealing that while legacy PBDE levels have declined substantially following regulatory action, current-use flame retardants are now contaminating breast milk at concerning levels. The persistent presence of phased-out PBDEs alongside emerging bromophenols and replacement BFRs—many of which are persistent, toxic, and bioaccumulative—indicates ongoing prenatal exposure through breastfeeding and increased risk for adverse impacts on infant neurodevelopment; however, it’s important to note that breastfeeding remains recommended and is still considered safer and more beneficial than formula feeding despite the presence of these contaminants, highlighting the urgent need for policies to reduce flame retardant contamination at the source rather than discouraging breastfeeding.
2020
Environ Health
A nested case-control study of 197 incident postmenopausal breast cancer cases and 197 controls with blood samples collected 1994-1999 measured plasma levels of six PBDE congeners (BDE-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154) and PBB-153 using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and found no overall evidence of association between brominated flame retardant (BFR) levels and breast cancer risk (log-concentrations yielding odds ratios of 0.87-1.07). Some analyses showed non-linear inverse associations for BDE-100 and BDE-153 with breast cancer risk (third vs. first quintile: OR=0.42; 95% CI: 0.19-0.93 and OR=0.42; 95% CI: 0.18-0.98, respectively) when exposure was modeled as ng/L plasma but not when lipid-adjusted (OR=0.58 and 0.53), with results unchanged by tumor hormone receptor status or BMI. These findings suggest no clear association between internal PBDE and PBB-153 levels and postmenopausal breast cancer risk, though limitations include small sample size, lack of genetic susceptibility information, single time-point exposure assessment that may not represent critical windows of susceptibility, and the paradoxical inverse associations requiring cautious interpretation, warranting additional larger studies with repeated measurements and assessment of early-life exposures to clarify the relationship between BFR exposure and breast cancer development.