We, scientists from a variety of disciplines, declare the following:
Parties to the Stockholm Convention have taken action on three brominated flame retardants that have been listed in the treaty for global elimination. These substances include components of commercial penta-bromodiphenyl ether and commercial octa-bromodiphenyl ether, along with hexabromobiphenyl. Another brominated flame retardant, hexabromocyclododecane, is under evaluation.
Many commonly used brominated and chlorinated flame retardants can undergo long-range environmental transport.
Many brominated and chlorinated flame retardants appear to be persistent and bioaccumulative, resulting in food chain contamination, including human milk.
Many brominated and chlorinated flame retardants lack adequate toxicity information, but the available data raises concerns.
Many different types of brominated and chlorinated flame retardants have been incorporated into products even though comprehensive toxicological information is lacking.
Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants present in a variety of products are released to the indoor and outdoor environments.
Near-end-of-life and end-of-life electrical and electronic products are a growing concern as a result of dumping in developing countries, which results in the illegal transboundary movement of their hazardous constituents. These include brominated and chlorinated flame retardants.
There is a lack of capacity to handle electronic waste in an environ-mentally sound manner in almost all developing countries and countries with economies in transition, leading to the release of hazardous substances that cause harm to human health and the environment. These substances include brominated and chlorinated flame retardants.
Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants can increase fire toxicity, but their overall benefit in improving fire safety has not been proven.
-
When brominated and chlorinated flame retardants burn, highly toxic dioxins and furans are formed.
Therefore, these data support the following:
Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants as classes of substances are a concern for persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport, and toxicity.
There is a need to improve the availability of and access to information on brominated and chlorinated flame retardants and other chemicals in products in the supply chain and throughout each product’s life cycle.
Consumers can play a role in the adoption of alternatives to harmful flame retardants if they are made aware of the presence of the substances, for example, through product labeling.
The process of identifying alternatives to flame retardants should include not only alternative chemicals but also innovative changes in the design of products, industrial processes, and other practices that do not require the use of any flame retardant.
Efforts should be made to ensure that current and alternative chemical flame retardants do not have hazardous properties, such as mutagenicity and carcinogenicity, or adverse effects on the reproductive, developmental, endocrine, immune, or nervous systems.
When seeking exemptions for certain applications of flame retardants, the party requesting the exemption should supply some information indicating why the exemption is technically or scien-tifically necessary and why potential alternatives are not technically or scientifically viable; a description of potential alternative processes, products, materials, or systems that eliminate the need for the chemical; and a list of sources researched.
Wastes containing flame retardants with persistent organic pollutant (POP) characteristics, including products and articles, should be disposed of in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed so that they do not exhibit the charac-teristics of POPs.
Flame retardants with POP characteristics should not be permitted to be subjected to disposal operations that may lead to recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct reuse, or alternative uses of the substances.
Wastes containing flame retardants with POP properties should not be transported across international boundaries unless it is for disposal in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed.
It is important to consider product stewardship and extended producer responsibility aspects in the life-cycle management of products containing flame retardants with POP properties, including electronic and electrical products.
Signatories
San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants
Signatories as of publication date. Institutions are for identification purposes only.
Sam Adu-Kumi, M.S., Deputy Director, Environmental Protection Agency, Accra, Ghana
Björn Albinson, Fire Protection Engineer (retired), Karlstad, Sweden
Henrik Alm, M.S., Doctoral Student, Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Division of Toxicology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Misha Askren, M.D., F.A.A.F.P., Physician, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Pasadena, CA, USA
Ralph Baker, M.S., Ph.D., Chief Scientist, TerraTherm Inc., Fitchburg, MA, USA
John Balmes, M.D., Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Scott Bartell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
Georg Becher, Ph.D., Department Director and Professor, Analytical Chemistry, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
David C. Bellinger, Ph.D., Professor, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Stephen Bent, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Åke Bergman, Ph.D., Professor, Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, and Board Member, International Panel on Chemical Pollution, Zürich, Switzerland
Anders Bignert, Ph.D., Professor, Contaminant Research, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
Justina Björklund, M.S., Graduate Student, Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Arlene Blum, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar, Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Christian Bogdal, Ph.D., Researcher, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland
Phil Brown, Ph.D., Professor, Sociology and Environmental Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
David Camann, M.S., Staff Scientist, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
Carmela Centeno, M.S., Ph.D., Industrial Development Officer, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna, Austria
Ibrahim Chahoud, Ph.D., Professor of Reproductive Toxicology, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Eliza Chin, M.D., M.P.H., President, American Medical Women’s Association, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Brock Chittim, M.S., General Manager, Wellington Laboratories, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Carsten Christophersen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Bradley Clarke, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
Theo Colborn, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Kathleen Collins, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Terrence Collins, Ph.D., Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Green Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Adrian Covaci, Ph.D., Professor, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Craig Criddle, Ph.D., Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Margarita Curras-Collazo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
Kyle D’Silva, Ph.D., Product Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dreieich, Germany
Devra Davis, M.A., Ph.D., M.P.H, Visiting Professor, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA, and Founder, Environmental Health Trust, Teton Village, WY, USA
Joao De Assuncao, M.S., Ph.D., Professor and Department Head, Environmental Health, University of Sao Paulo School of Public Health, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Cynthia A. de Wit, Ph.D., Professor, Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Mike Denison, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Miriam Diamond, Ph.D., Professor, Geography, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Joseph DiGangi, Ph.D., Senior Scientist and Technical Advisor, International POPs Elimination Network, Berkeley, CA, USA
Alin Dirtu, Ph.D., Researcher, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Michelle Douskey, Ph.D., Lecturer, Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkley, CA, USA
Anne Ehrlich, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Biology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
David Epel, Ph.D., Jane & Marshall Steel Jr. Professor Emeritus in Marine Sciences, Cell and Developmental Biology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Brenda Eskenazi, M.A., Ph.D., Jennifer and Brian Maxwell Professor of Maternal Health and Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Tim Evans, Ph.D., Cancer Registration Information Manager, West Midlands Cancer Intelligence Unit, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Peter Fantke, Ph.D., Research Associate, Institute of Energy Economics and the Rational Use of Energy, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Joseph Gardella Jr., Ph.D., Professor and Larkin Chair of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
Philip Germansderfer, D.Sc., International Marketing Sales, Fluid Managment Systems, Watertown, MA, USA
Gillian Gibson, M.Sc., Environmental Scientist, Gibson Consulting and Training, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Andreas Gies, Ph.D., Director and Professor, Department for Environmental Hygiene, Federal Environment Agency, Berlin, Germany
Robert Gould, M.D., President, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Berkeley, CA, USA
Konstanze Grote, Ph.D., Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Charité University Medical School Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Rui Guo, Ministry of Environment, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Jana Hajslova, Ph.D., Head of Department of Food Analysis, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
Ralph Hall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Bruce Hammock, Ph.D., Professor, Entomology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh, M.P.H., Lecturer in Environmental Health, Hanoi School of Public Health, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kim Harley, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Stuart Harrad, Ph.D., Professor, Environmental Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Robert Harrison, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Professor, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Line Smastuen Haug, Doctoral Student, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Yasuhiro Hirai, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Environment Preservation Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Ivan Holoubek, Ph.D., Director and Professor, Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Brno, Czech Republic
Ron Hoogenboom, Ph.D., Toxicologist, RIKILT Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Center, Wageningen, the Netherlands, and Board Member, International Panel on Chemical Pollution, Zürich, Switzerland
David Hope, CEO, Pacific Rim Laboratories, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
William J. Hirzy, Ph.D., Chemist in Residence, American University, Washington, DC, USA
Heinrich Huehnerfuss, Ph.D., Professor, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Alastair Iles, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Tomohiko Isobe, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Ehime University, Matsuyama City, Japan
Kristina Jakobsson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Sarah Janssen, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York City, NY, USA
Niklas Johansson, Scientist, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Catherine Karr, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., Assistant Professor and Director, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Donald Kennedy, Ph.D., Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Emeritus, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA, and Editor Emeritus, Science
Sergio Kuriyama, Ph.D., Guest Scientist, Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, National School of Public Health, Fiocruz, Brazil
James Leckie, M.S., Ph.D., C.L. Peck, Class of 1906 Professor of Engineering and Director, Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Pamela Lein, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular Biosciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Juliana Leonel, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil
Mark Levine, Ph.D., Leader, China Energy Group, and Former Director, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Donald Lucas, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Environment, Health, and Safety Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Richard Luthy, Ph.D., Silas H. Palmer Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Karl Mair, D.Sc., Senior Scientist, Eco Research SRL, Bolzano, Italy
Govindan Malarvannan, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, Matsuyama City, Japan
John Meeker, M.S., Sc.D., Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Richard Meigs, P.E., Senior Principal Engineer, RJR Engineering, Ventura, CA, USA
Mark Miller, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Paolo Mocarelli, M.D., Professor and Director, Department of Clinical Pathology, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
Rachel Morello-Frosch, M.P.H., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Jochen Mueller, Ph.D., Professor, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Tom Muir, M.S., Retired, Environment Canada, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
Martin Mulvihill, Ph.D., Associate Director for Education and Outreach, Center for Green Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Anbu Munasamy, M.S., Ph.D., National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology–Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Thiruvananthapuran, Kerala, India
Richard Murphy, Ph.D., Director of Science and Education, Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Futures Society, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Takeshi Nakano, Ph.D., Research Professor, Center for Advanced Science and Innovation, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
Shoji Nakayama, M.D., Ph.D., National Research Council Associate, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA
Amgalan Natsagdorj, Ph.D., Department Head, Environmental Chemistry, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
William Nazaroff, Ph.D., Daniel Tellep Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
John Neuberger, Dr.Ph., M.P.H., M.B.A., Professor, Preventative Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, USA
Jessica Norrgran, Doctoral Student, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Fardin Oliaei, Ph.D., M.P.A., Consultant, Cambridge EnviroScience Consulting, LLC, Cambridge, MA, USA
Kees Olie, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Olaf Paepke, Ph.D., Eurofins, Hamburg, Germany
Victoria Persky, M.D., Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, IL, USA
Agneta Rannug, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Ulf Rannug, Ph.D., Professor, Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Eric Reiner, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Ontario Ministry of Environment, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Martin Reinhard, Ph.D., Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Karen Rice, M.D., Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Walnut Creek Kaiser, Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Robert H. Rice, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Anthony Roach, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Government of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
David Roberts, Ph.D., William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Astrophysics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
Mary Roberts, Ph.D., Professor, Chemistry, Boston College, Boston, MA, USA
Christina Ruden, Ph.D., Professor, Philosophy and the History of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Cindy Lee Russell, M.D., Vice President of Community Health, Santa Clara County Medical Association, San Jose, CA, USA
Kenneth Sauer, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Arnold Schecter, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas, TX, USA
Martin Scheringer, D.Sc., Senior Scientist, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, and Board Member, International Panel on Chemical Pollution, Zürich, Switzerland
Ted Schettler, M.D., M.P.H., Science Director, Science and Environmental Health Network, Ames, IA, USA
Karl-Werner Schramm, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
Megan Schwarzman, M.D., M.P.H., Research Scientist, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, and Associate Physician, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Susan D. Shaw, Dr.PH., Director, Marine Environmental Research Institute, Blue Hill, ME, USA
Heather Stapleton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Kristina Sundqvist, Ph.D., Project Assistant, Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Patrice Sutton, M.P.H., Research Scientist, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Shanna Swan, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Chair for Research, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Director, Center for Reproductive Epidemiology, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, USA
Takumi Takasuga, Ph.D., Director, Shimadzu Techno-Research Inc., Kyoto, Japan
Chris Talsness, D.V.M., Working Group Leader in Reproductive Toxicology, Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Cathrine Thomsen, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Gregg Tomy, Ph.D., Adjunct Assistant Professor, Fisheries and Oceans, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Joao Paulo Machado Torres, Sc.D., Associate Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
James Trosko, Ph.D., Professor, Pediatrics and Human Development, Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Mary Turyk, Ph.D., M.P.H., Research Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Gunther Umlauf, Ph.D., European Commission Joint Research Center, Ispra, Italy
Bryan Vining, Ph.D., Analytical Perspectives, Wilmington, NC, USA
Qiuquan Wang, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Yawei Wang, Ph.D., Research Center for Eco Environmental Science, Beijing, China
Julie Shu-Li Wang, Ph.D., Investigator, National Health Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan
Rosemary Waring, Ph.D., Honorary Reader, Human Toxicology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Thomas F. Webster, D.Sc., Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Charles Weschler, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, UMDNJ–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, and Continuing Visiting Professor, International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Stevie Wilding, Chemist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Duane Wilding, M.E., Senior Engineer, Maryland Environmental Service, Millersville, MD, USA
Gayle Windham, Ph.D., Researcher, Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
Tracey Woodruff, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor and Director, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Jae-Ho Yang, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, Catholic University of Daegu, Gyeongsan, Korea
Tom Young, M.P.P., Ph.D., Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Bin Zhao, Doctoral Student, Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
R. Thomas Zoeller, M.A., Ph.D., Professor, Biology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
Ami Zota, Sc.D., Postdoctoral Scholar, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California, San Francisco, Oakland, CA, USA
Supplemental Material
Abbreviations and an Annotated Statement
Footnotes
The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.
Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Supplementary Materials
Abbreviations and an Annotated Statement