Washington and Maine may end up battling it out to be the first state to ban the Deca form of PBDEs.
Washington may become the first state to ban the most common form of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants, Deca-BDE, which the U.S. EPA lists as a carcinogen. On the opposite side of the nation, Maine may not be far behind.
In Washington, proposed legislation would phase out the use of Deca-BDEs in computers and other consumer products by 2011. The bill was introduced in January, marking the third year that such a ban has been suggested, according to Robert Duff, director of the state's Office of Environmental Health Assessments, who says that it seems increasingly likely to pass.
The law would also make the state one of a handful that have banned Octa- and Penta-BDEs, also considered toxic. Deca-BDE replaced these and other discontinued PBDEs.
