Oregon Public Broadcasting

Six months after Oregon lawmakers approved a ban on a controversial flame retardant, the Environmental Protection Agency has taken major strides toward outlawing it nationally. Rob Manning reports.

The chemical deca brominated diphenyl ether is usually called deca-BDE.  It’s a type of flame retardant often found in consumer plastics, primarily electronics.

Last July, environmental groups convinced Oregon lawmakers to ban deca-BDE, because studies showed it threatened the health of fish, wildlife, and people.

Bob Sallinger with the Audubon Society of Portland helped overcome significant opposition from the chemical industry, to pass Oregon’s deca-BDE law. But he says national action was still necessary.

Bob Sallinger: “Even though it was effectively banned in Oregon, it could still make its way into our state and into our wildlife populations.”

EPA officials reached agreements with three companies to phase deca-BDE out of its products in the next two to three years.

But an EPA official said there’s still one Japanese chemical company responsible for products containing deca-BDE that doesn’t have an agreement yet.