PRODUCT LIABILITY: Study Says Chemical Found in Common Household Products Causes Infertility

January 27, 2010

Berkeley - Women exposed to high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE), a chemical commonly found in household products, are 30 to 50 percent less likely to get pregnant compared to women with low levels of this chemical in their blood, according to UC Berkeley researchers.

PBDE is found in many household products such as furniture, insulated wires, drapery materials, and foams used in upholstery. Researchers believe that this flame-retardant chemical is widely used in California which has a stricter flammability compared to other states.

“Studies suggested that about 97 percent of Americans have PBDE levels in their blood which are 20 times higher than people from Asia and Europe”, said Kim Harley, the lead author of the study.

The long-term study has started about 10 years ago when researchers measured the PBDE levels of 223 pregnant women in Salinas to determine the correlation of infertility and other health risks to environmental exposures.

The researchers said that women with high levels of PBDE in their blood who were trying to conceive in any given month were less to get pregnant compared to women with low levels of the said chemical.

Because PBDE increases the risk of infertility and other health problems, the Environment Protection Agency has banned two mixtures of this chemical in 2005 and has mandated to phase out the production of the third version of the chemical in 2013.

While the researchers called the agency’s decision as “good news”, they believe that many household items are still using PBDE.