http://www.radio4all.net/program/64934Podcast for Program: Is Your Furniture Killing You? Toxic Flame Retardants Prevalent in Household Dust Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:50:15 +0000240http://www.radio4all.net/program/64934Scientists at Silent Spring Institute have found that flame retardants in common household products like upholstered furniture, textiles, and electronics migrate into household dust, and from there, into our bodies. The Chicago Tribune has reported that the average American is born with the highest recorded levels of flame retardants among infants in the world. The chemicals are linked to cancer, changes in DNA, hormone disruption, lowered IQ, decreased fertility, and hyperactivity. Such links are denied by the chemical industry, which has lobbied for years to get these chemicals into consumer products, backed by the tobacco industry, which promoted the flame retardants to avoid making cigarettes without accelerants. The Silent Spring study was published on November 28th in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. With Ruthann Rudel, senior scientist of environmental toxicology and director of research at the Silent Spring Institute, a non-profit based in Newton, Massachusetts that works to identify and break the links between toxins and women’s health, especially breast cancer. Ms. Rudel directs the Institute’s Household Exposure Study. Sounds Of Dissent radioWed, 12 Dec 2012 18:50:15 +0000