Abstract
BACKGROUND: In 2015, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) received and then, in 2017, granted a petition under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to declare certain groups of consumer products as banned hazardous substances if they contain nonpolymeric, additive organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs). The petitioners asked the CPSC to regulate OFRs as a single chemical class with similar health effects. The CPSC later sponsored a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report in 2019, which ultimately identified 161 OFRs and grouped them into 14 subclasses based on chemical structural similarity. In 2021, a follow-up discussion was held among a group of scientists from both inside and outside of the CPSC for current research on OFRs and to promote collaboration that could increase public awareness of CPSC work and support the class-based approach for the CPSC’s required risk assessment of OFRs. OBJECTIVES: Given the extensive data collected to date, there is a need to synthesize what is known about OFR and how class-based regulations have previously managed this information. This commentary discusses both OFR exposure and OFR toxicity and fills some gaps for OFR exposure that were not within the scope of the NASEM report. The objective of this commentary is therefore to provide an overview of the OFR research presented at SOT 2021, explore opportunities and challenges associated with OFR risk assessment, and inform CPSC’s work on an OFR class-based approach. DISCUSSION: A class-based approach for regulating OFRs can be successful. Expanding the use of read-across and the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in assessing and regulating existing chemicals was considered as a necessary part of the class-based process. Recommendations for OFR class-based risk assessment include the need to balance fire and chemical safety and to protect vulnerable populations, including children and pregnant women. The authors also suggest the CPSC should consider global, federal, and state OFR regulations. The lack of data or lack of concordance in toxicity data could present significant hurdles for some OFR subclasses. The potential for cumulative risks within or between subclasses, OFR mixtures, and metabolites common to more than one OFR all add extra complexity for class-based risk assessment. This commentary discusses scientific and regulatory challenges for a class-based approach suggested by NASEM. This commentary is offered as a resource for anyone performing class-based assessments and to provide potential collaboration opportunities for OFR stakeholders.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 015001 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Environmental Health Perspectives |
Volume | 132 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 4 Jan 2024 |
DOIs |
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Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024, Public Health Services, US Dept of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved.
Funding
This manuscript reflects a 2021 SOT OFR workshop. Alice Thaler [retired from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)] contributed to the design of the workshop. Mary Kelleher contributed to the CPSC internal process of the workshop and the manuscript. Kristina Hatlelid, Joanna Matheson, Charles Bevington, Gordon John, and Eric Hooker contributed to the CPSC organohalogen flame retardant (OFR) project and critical review of this manuscript. Stefanie Marques and Adrienne Layton contributed to the development of the OFR schematic in Figure 1. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective institutions. This manuscript has not been approved by, and does not necessarily represent the views of, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Funders | Funder number |
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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences | |
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | |
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission |