
Silent Spring Flame Retardant Study Misleading
Silent Spring Institute flame retardant study overgeneralizes findings
A recently issued a study on ‘New Exposure Biomarkers as Tools For Breast Cancer Epidemiology, Biomonitoring, and Prevention’ by the Silent Spring Institute identifies 17 priority chemicals women should avoid in order to reduce the risk of breast cancer. The press release accompanying the study, which was largely relayed by media, is particularly misleading, as it groups all flame retardants as part of the target for breast cancer prevention. However, researchers only looked at two specific flame retardants. By doing so the Silent Spring Institute extends the analysis of only two molecules to the hundreds of flame retardant chemicals that exist.