ABSTRACT
JULIE B. HERBSTMAN, ANDREAS SJÖDIN, MATTHEW KURZON, SALLY A. LEDERMAN, RICHARD S. JONES, VIRGINIA RAUH, LARRY L. NEEDHAM, DELIANG TANG, MEGAN NIEDZWIECKI, RICHARD Y. WANG, AND FREDERICA PERERA
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used flame retardant compounds applied to a wide array of textiles, building materials, and electronic equipment, including computers and televisions. Because they are additives rather than chemically bound to consumer products, they have the propensity to be released into the environment (Darnerud et al. 2001). PBDEs are persistent organic chemicals, and some congeners can bioaccumulate; therefore they have become ubiquitous contaminants detectable in the environment, in animals, and in humans (Hites 2004; Sjodin et al. 2008b).
