Study links gymnastics equipment to exposure to flame-retardant chemicals
- Date:
- July 26, 2016
- Source:
- Boston University Medical Center
- Summary:
- As the summer Olympics get underway, a new study reports that popular gymnastics training equipment contains mixtures of flame-retardant chemicals that have been linked to increased risks of ADHD, cancer and brain development delays.
FULL STORY
As the summer Olympics get underway, a
new study co-authored by Boston University School of Public Health
(BUSPH) researchers reports that popular gymnastics training equipment
contains mixtures of flame-retardant chemicals that have been linked to
increased risks of ADHD, cancer and brain development delays.
The study, published online in the journal Environment International,
found higher levels of those chemicals in gymnasts' urine, indicating
that gymnastics training environments -- specifically, pit cubes found
in foam pits -- are a source of exposure to toxic flame-retardants.
"Combined with our previous research, these findings indicate that gyms can contain high levels of mixtures of different flame-retardants, and that these chemicals are entering gymnasts' bodies," said lead author Courtney Carignan, who conducted the bulk of the research as a PhD candidate at BUSPH. "This is particularly concerning for competitive gymnasts and coaches who spend a lot of time in the gym."
Chemical flame-retardants are well known for their use in the foam of upholstered furniture. They move from foam to dust to people, and enter the body when dust on the hands is accidentally ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. They are widely known to be toxic to human health, with previous scientific studies reporting on myriad harmful effects of exposure, especially to the fragile developing brains of babies. Further, research has found that the use of these flame-retardants in furniture provides no significant fire-safety benefit.
While prior studies have found high levels of such retardants in the air and dust of gyms, the new study, which analyzed foam pits in 11 U.S. gyms, found that 89 percent of pit cubes sampled contained flame-retardants. Foam pits routinely are used to safely teach new skills.
In addition, the study found that exposures among a team of 11 collegiate gymnasts were linked to the flame-retardants in their gymnastics-training environment, with higher levels of those chemicals in their urine after practice than before practice. The markers of the chemicals in urine samples were the same as the flame-retardants found in pit cubes in the gym's loose-foam pit.
The most common flame retardant found was TPHP, a suspected developmental disrupter. There was a 50-percent increase in the average level of urinary metabolite of TPHP in the gymnasts' urine collected after practice, compared to before practice.
In rodent studies, prenatal exposure to TPHP has been found to interfere with bone-cell development in offspring.
The second most common chemical found was PentaBDE, which was phased out in the U.S. beginning in 2005 and is globally banned because of its toxicity and environmental persistence. In population-based studies, women with higher levels of PentaBDE in their blood took longer to get pregnant, and their children were more likely to have developmental behavioral disorders such as ADHD.
The third most common flame-retardant found was TDCIPP (also known as chlorinated Tris), the same cancer-causing chemical that was removed from baby pajamas in 1977 and is now listed as a carcinogen under California's Proposition 65.
The study found that pit cubes purchased after 2005 were more likely to contain Firemaster® 550 (a chemical mix containing TPHP, EH-TBB and TBPH), while those purchased prior to 2005 were more likely to contain PentaBDE.
Managers of the gyms reported that they had been required by local fire marshals to purchase equipment containing flame-retardants.
Carignan, now a postdoctoral fellow in environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted that the collegiate gymnasts in the study reported having been gymnasts for at least 12 years and currently trained at least 19 hours per week. Elite gymnasts, such as those in the Olympics, often train for an average of 30 hours per week.
"As a former gymnast, I know that there are many benefits to gymnastics, and I don't think anyone should quit the sport based on our findings," Carignan said. "However, I hope our findings will alert gymnasts and coaches to take precautions to reduce their exposure, and that they will encourage their gyms to purchase flame- retardant-free equipment in the future."
In the short term, one way that gymnasts can reduce their exposure is by washing their hands with soap and water after practice, rather than just with hand-sanitizer, Carignan said.
Over the past few decades, many gyms have been required by fire marshals to purchase equipment containing flame-retardants. However, this requirement did not consider potential health risks from long-term exposure to these chemicals, the researchers said.
Carignan is currently facilitating a further study of pit cubes and fire safety that she said will provide useful information for gyms.
"Combined with our previous research, these findings indicate that gyms can contain high levels of mixtures of different flame-retardants, and that these chemicals are entering gymnasts' bodies," said lead author Courtney Carignan, who conducted the bulk of the research as a PhD candidate at BUSPH. "This is particularly concerning for competitive gymnasts and coaches who spend a lot of time in the gym."
Chemical flame-retardants are well known for their use in the foam of upholstered furniture. They move from foam to dust to people, and enter the body when dust on the hands is accidentally ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. They are widely known to be toxic to human health, with previous scientific studies reporting on myriad harmful effects of exposure, especially to the fragile developing brains of babies. Further, research has found that the use of these flame-retardants in furniture provides no significant fire-safety benefit.
While prior studies have found high levels of such retardants in the air and dust of gyms, the new study, which analyzed foam pits in 11 U.S. gyms, found that 89 percent of pit cubes sampled contained flame-retardants. Foam pits routinely are used to safely teach new skills.
In addition, the study found that exposures among a team of 11 collegiate gymnasts were linked to the flame-retardants in their gymnastics-training environment, with higher levels of those chemicals in their urine after practice than before practice. The markers of the chemicals in urine samples were the same as the flame-retardants found in pit cubes in the gym's loose-foam pit.
The most common flame retardant found was TPHP, a suspected developmental disrupter. There was a 50-percent increase in the average level of urinary metabolite of TPHP in the gymnasts' urine collected after practice, compared to before practice.
In rodent studies, prenatal exposure to TPHP has been found to interfere with bone-cell development in offspring.
The second most common chemical found was PentaBDE, which was phased out in the U.S. beginning in 2005 and is globally banned because of its toxicity and environmental persistence. In population-based studies, women with higher levels of PentaBDE in their blood took longer to get pregnant, and their children were more likely to have developmental behavioral disorders such as ADHD.
The third most common flame-retardant found was TDCIPP (also known as chlorinated Tris), the same cancer-causing chemical that was removed from baby pajamas in 1977 and is now listed as a carcinogen under California's Proposition 65.
The study found that pit cubes purchased after 2005 were more likely to contain Firemaster® 550 (a chemical mix containing TPHP, EH-TBB and TBPH), while those purchased prior to 2005 were more likely to contain PentaBDE.
Managers of the gyms reported that they had been required by local fire marshals to purchase equipment containing flame-retardants.
Carignan, now a postdoctoral fellow in environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted that the collegiate gymnasts in the study reported having been gymnasts for at least 12 years and currently trained at least 19 hours per week. Elite gymnasts, such as those in the Olympics, often train for an average of 30 hours per week.
"As a former gymnast, I know that there are many benefits to gymnastics, and I don't think anyone should quit the sport based on our findings," Carignan said. "However, I hope our findings will alert gymnasts and coaches to take precautions to reduce their exposure, and that they will encourage their gyms to purchase flame- retardant-free equipment in the future."
In the short term, one way that gymnasts can reduce their exposure is by washing their hands with soap and water after practice, rather than just with hand-sanitizer, Carignan said.
Over the past few decades, many gyms have been required by fire marshals to purchase equipment containing flame-retardants. However, this requirement did not consider potential health risks from long-term exposure to these chemicals, the researchers said.
Carignan is currently facilitating a further study of pit cubes and fire safety that she said will provide useful information for gyms.
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Boston University Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Boston University Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Courtney C. Carignan, Mingliang Fang, Heather M. Stapleton, Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Michael D. McClean, Thomas F. Webster. Urinary biomarkers of flame retardant exposure among collegiate U.S. gymnasts. Environment International, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2016.06.030
Boston
University Medical Center. "Study links gymnastics equipment to
exposure to flame-retardant chemicals." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26
July 2016.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160726123420.htm>.
By Sonya Lunder, Senior Analyst
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
A new study bolstered evidence that gymnasts are highly exposed to fire retardant chemicals in landing mats and foam cubes in landing pits used to practice tumbling and vaults.
Courtney Carignan and colleagues from Boston, Harvard and Duke universities measured concentrations of fire retardant chemicals in 11 elite gymnasts. The team found that the gymnasts had elevated exposures to several flame retardant chemicals, including chemicals linked to hormone disruption and cancer.
Exposure to several chemicals increased shortly after gymnastics practice and decreased hours later, pointing to gyms as a source of exposure. This study builds upon prior work by the researchers, showing elevated concentrations of another class of flame retardants, known as PBDEs, in gymnasts.
Over the past several decades, companies have added these and other chemical flame retardants to foam and electronics.There is growing concern about the harmful effects of many of these chemicals, in addition to evidence that they have done little to make products fire resistant.
Carignan found flame retardant chemicals in 25 of the 28 pit cubes she examined. Gymnasts are exposed when the pit foam crumbles, or volatilizes into the air.
In a press release, Carignan called for action:
As a former gymnast, I know that there are many benefits to gymnastics, and don’t think anyone should quit the sport based on our findings. However, I hope our findings will alert gymnasts and coaches to take precautions to reduce their exposure. We need to consider ways to achieve fire safety without the use of chemical flame retardants. Share this study with your local gymnastics studio manager and ask them to explore replacing flame retardant equipment with safer fire safety alternatives, which could include sprinklers, smoke detectors and clearly marked fire exits, among other things.
Carignan launched the Gymnast Flame Retardant Collaborative, where athletes, parents, coaches, scientists and physicians can exchange information about the issue. The website provides fact sheets for parents and gyms about the health hazards of flame retardant chemicals, and tips to reduce exposures.
The foam in tumbling pits is highly flammable, but gym fires are very rare. Carignan is studying ways to maintain fire safety without using chemicals. Simple measures like sprinkler systems could do the trick.
Carignan recommends that gymnasts wash their hands after practice to reduce the risk of ingesting flame retardants, and wear protective clothing and dust masks when handling pit cubes.
Duke University offers free testing for gym pit cubes and other foam household products. While gyms can purchase new flame retardant-free foam cubes, they infrequently remove and replace older foam cubes from the pits.
In addition to gymnasts, other athletes use foam pits for indoor training: skiers, snowboarders, skateboarders and BMX riders. Track and field events, and indoor rock climbing use foam landing pads with protective covers, but the flame retardant content of this equipment has yet to be studied. Indoor trampoline facilities, the sites of countless children’s birthday parties, are also a possible source of exposure.
And there are no U.S. restrictions on Firemaster 550 or phosphate-based flame retardants.
It may seem seem there is an endless stream of news about the unchecked use of harmful and unnecessary chemicals in consumer products. But there is a silver lining: Momentum is growing to remove toxic flame retardants from new products.
Major manufacturers have stopped adding these toxic chemicals to products. Five states have laws banning forms of a fire retardant, called chlorinated Tris, in some foam items. These states include Maine, Maryland, New York, Vermont and Washington. California just announced it will remove two Tris chemicals from children’s sleep products.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is also considering a petition to ban all flame retardants that contain bromine or fluorine from children’s products, household furniture and electronics.
However, the new study indicates that more work is necessary, as restrictions on new products will not clean up the existing problem in America’s gyms.
===============
At the Gym: Foam Pits Filled with Fire Retardants
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The research team attributed the gymnasts’ extraordinary levels of PentaBDE to constant exposure to gym pads made of polyurethane foam treated with fire retardants. Foam padding and furniture have been routinely infused with toxic fire retardants in large part because of outdated fire safety standards that have encouraged manufacturers to rely on chemicals instead of non-chemical ways to make foam products less flammable.
Carignan, once a competitive gymnast, began the research while studying for her doctorate in environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health. "I was particularly concerned about the loose foam pit because of the way gymnasts use it and because the 'pit dust' gets everywhere in the gym." she said. The research team included other scientists from BU, Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was partly funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The study, published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, reported finding residues of three worrisome fire retardants– PentaBDE, chlorinated tris and Firemaster 550 – in the bodies of the 11 teens and young adults and also in air and gym dust.
Discontinued fire retardant still shows up in gymnasts' bodies
Of particular significance was the elevated presence of PentaBDE in the bodies of the young gymnasts and in the dust of their gyms. Animal studies have found that the chemicals in PentaBDE can permanently alter brain development and behavior in laboratory studies. And once a person is exposed, these substances can linger in the body for years. EWG has measured these chemicals in breast milk and young children. EWG helped collect foam samples for a study that found PentaBDE and other potentially harmful flame retardant chemicals in baby products. But the presence of fire retardants in gymnastics foam is itself a surprise, because gymnastics studios do not permit smoking or have candles or other potential sources of ignition.
Because of PentaBDE’s toxicity and persistence in the body, the European Union banned it in 2004, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement with U.S. manufacturers to stop making or importing it and related chemicals after January 1, 2005. After PentaBDE was discontinued, makers of foam products turned to newer chemical fire retardants, mainly chlorinated tris and Firemaster 550.
The PentaBDE phase-out did not require the destruction of existing gym pads and other foam furniture. The managers of the gyms where the athletes in the study practiced reported that the foam cubes lining the gym pits were 10 to 20 years old, purchased when PentaBDE was still legally sold.
The replacement of PentaBDE with chlorinated tris and Firemaster 550 did not solve the contamination problem. Both are associated with a disturbing list of health dangers. The study authors noted that foam landing pits are commonly found not only in training facilities for gymnasts but also those for ski and snowboarders, skateboarders, BMX riders and track and field athletes. And, as we pointed out yesterday in a story about the new HBO documentary Toxic Hot Seat, firefighters – and the general public – are at risk from fire retardant chemicals added to furniture and other consumer products as a result of deceptive chemical industry lobbying.
When Carignan began the study, she expected to find that the gymnasts' blood would contain more of chemical called BDE-153, the most persistent component of PentaBDE, than Americans generally but less than workers in foam recycling plants and carpet installers. She was surprised to discover that the gymnasts' measurements of this chemical were higher than those of the workers.
What can worried parents, coaches and athletes do?
Foam is highly flammable, but it is not clear that flame retardants are the answer. Strict control of ignition sources like matches, cigarettes and candles is necessary in any athletic building with foam pits. Many gymnastic studios have sprinkler systems for fire control. Gym operators can buy foam pit cubes and pads free of chemical additives for the same price or less than for chemical-infused foam.
Carignan has established the Gymnast Flame Retardant Collaborative, an online site where athletes, parents, coaches, scientists and medical personnel can investigate gymnasts' exposures to fire retardants and exchange information about non-chemical pads and other safety measures. One simple precaution she recommends is that gymnasts wash their hands after practice.
Toxic fire retardants in gyms are a symptom of a much larger problem. In the 1970s, when PentaBDE and other chemicals in the family known as polybrominated diphenylethers, or PBDEs, were invented, Americans had little idea that kids would be at risk if they engaged in gymnastics and other sports, played on carpeting or put toys and hands into their mouths. Scientists didn’t have the capacity to measure minute quantities of toxic chemicals in human blood or breast milk. Now they can -- and they know that exposure to even small exposures to PBDEs can permanently alter brain development, disrupt hormone signaling and possible cause cancer.
According to Carignan, sports besides gymnastics that use loose foam pits are skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding and BMX biking. Track and field events such as the pole-vault and high jump use above-ground pits whose fire retardant content remains to be studied. Other youth sports may use padding infused with fire retardants. Scientists need to undertake more studies to understand the interplay between young athletes and gear that may be infused with fire retardant chemicals.
Every day people are exposed to a laundry list of chemicals in food and water, household goods and clothing. Among these chemicals are newer fire retardants that are replacing PBDEs. These chemicals are subject to a weak regulatory process created under the outdated and ineffective 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. This law:
- Doesn’t require chemical makers to prove that their products are safe;
- Doesn’t investigate how chemicals are used and who is most at risk from exposure;
- Doesn’t focus on chemicals that persist in people’s bodies or accumulate in the food chain.
Fixing the problem requires an overhaul of the law to require that the EPA thoroughly assess the safety of industrial chemicals.
The Chemical Safety Improvement Act, recently introduced in Congress to update the existing law, would not do the job. It is backed by the chemical industry and offers little protection to many of those who are exposed to toxic chemicals: workers, people living near manufacturing plants and, as the Boston study underscored, young gymnasts tumbling into chemical-laced foam pits.
Americans need a system that protects everyone. If Congress doesn’t fix the law, the story of the gymnasts will be repeated with the next chemical and the one after that. Discovering toxic chemical exposures only after people are widely exposed to possibly dangerous substances can become a tragic legacy.
As important, the nation’s fire safety laws must be reformed to encourage manufacturers to address fire risks without the use of toxic fire retardants.