Playing with fire

Tribune Watchdog
Playing with fire
A deceptive campaign by industry brought toxic
flame retardants into our homes and into our bodies.
And the chemicals don’t even work as promised.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
By Patricia Callahan and Sam Roe
Dr. David Heimbach knows how to tell a story.
Before California lawmakers last year, the noted burn surgeon drew gasps from
the crowd as he described a 7-week-old baby girl who was burned in a fire started by
a candle while she lay on a pillow that lacked flame retardant chemicals.
“Now this is a tiny little person, no bigger than my Italian greyhound at home,”
said Heimbach, gesturing to approximate the baby’s size. “Half of her body was severely burned. She ultimately died after about three weeks of pain and misery in the
hospital.”
Heimbach’s passionate testimony about the baby’s death made the long-term
health concerns about flame retardants voiced by doctors, environmentalists and
even firefighters sound abstract and petty.
But there was a problem with his testimony: It wasn’t true. Records show there
was no dangerous pillow or candle fire. The baby he described didn’t exist.
Neither did the 9-week-old patient who Heimbach told California legislators
died in a candle fire in 2009. Nor did the 6-week-old patient who he told Alaska
lawmakers was fatally burned in her crib in 2010.
Heimbach is not just a prominent burn doctor. He is a star witness for the manufacturers of flame retardants.
His testimony, the Tribune found, is part of a decades-long campaign of deception that has loaded the furniture and electronics in American homes with pounds
of toxic chemicals linked to cancer, neurological deficits, developmental problems
and impaired fertility.
The tactics started with Big Tobacco, which wanted to shift focus away from
cigarettes as the cause of fire deaths, and continued as chemical companies worked
to preserve a lucrative market for their products, according to a Tribune review of
thousands of government, scientific and internal industry documents.
These powerful industries distorted science in ways that overstated the benefits
of the chemicals, created a phony consumer watchdog group that stoked the public’s fear of fire and helped organize and steer an association of top fire officials that
spent more than a decade campaigning for their cause.
Today, scientists know that some flame retardants escape from household products and settle in dust. That’s why toddlers, who play on the floor and put things in
their mouths, generally have far higher levels of these chemicals in their bodies than
their parents.
Blood levels of certain widely used flame retardants doubled in adults every two
to five years between 1970 and 2004. More recent studies show levels haven’t declined in the U.S. even though some of the chemicals have been pulled from the
market. A typical American baby is born with the highest recorded concentrations
of flame retardants among infants in the world.
People might be willing to accept the health risks if the flame retardants packed
into sofas and easy chairs worked as promised. But they don’t.
The chemical industry often points to a government study from the 1980s as
Bulls down, but not out (yet
Playoff challenge intensifies without Rose and Noah hurting Chicago Sports
proof that flame retardants save lives. But the study’s lead author, Vytenis Babrauskas, said in an interview that the industry has grossly distorted his findings and that
the amount of retardants used in household furniture doesn’t work.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
“The fire just laughs at it,” he said.
Other government scientists subsequently
found
that the flame retardants in
TRIBUNE
WATCHDOG
household furniture don’t protect consumers from fire in any meaningful way.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, has allowed generation after generation of flame retardants onto the market and into American homes
without thoroughly assessing the health risks. The EPA even promoted one chemical mixture as a safe, eco-friendly flame retardant despite grave concerns from its
deceptive
own scientists about potential hazards to A
humans
andcampaign
wildlife. by industry brought toxic flame reta
homes and into our bodies. And the chemicals don’t even w
Since the 1970s manufacturers
By Patricia Callah
have repeatedly withdrawn flame rer. David Heim
tardants amid health concerns. Some
Before Cal
surgeon drew
have been banned by a United Na7-week-old baby girl wh
while she lay on a pillow
tions treaty that seeks to eliminate
“Now this is a tiny
greyhound at home,” sai
the worst chemicals in the world.
baby’s size. “Half of her
died after about three we
Chemtura Corp. and Albemarle
Heimbach’s passiona
the long-term health co
Corp., the two biggest U.S. manufacdoctors, environmental
and petty.
turers of flame retardants, say their
But there was a pro
Records show there wa
products are safe and effective, argubaby he described didn’t
Neither did the 9-w
ing that they have been extensively
patient who Heimbac
California legislators di
candle fire in 2009. Nor
evaluated by government agencies
6-week-old patient who
Alaska lawmakers was
burned in her crib in 201
here and in Europe.
Heimbach is not just a
inent burn doctor. He i
witness for the manufa
“Flame retardants provide an esof flame retardants.
His testimony, the T
sential tool to enable manufacturers of
found, is part of a decad
campaign of deception t
loaded the furniture an
products to meet the fire safety codes
tronics in American
with pounds of toxic ch
linked to cancer, neuro
and standards necessary to protect
deficits, developmental
lems and impaired fertil
life and property in a modern world,”
The tactics started w
Tobacco, which wanted
focus away from cigare
John Gustavsen, a Chemtura spokesthe cause of fire death
continued as chemical
nies worked to preserve
man, said in a written statement.
tive market for their pr
according to a Tribune
His company, Gustavsen said,
of thousands of gover
scientific and internal in
documents.
strongly disagrees with the main findThese powerful ind
distorted science in wa
overstated the benefits
ings of the Tribune’s investigation.
Consumer Product Safety Commission photo
chemicals, created a pho
sumer watchdog grou
Up in flames: Government scientists found that chairs conHeimbach, the burn doctor, has
taining flame retardants, like the one being tested above,
burned just as fast as identical chairs without them.
regularly supported the industry’s
Tribune Makers of flame retardants With cigarettes starting deadly Chemical companies say
position that flame retardants save
wage a deceptive campaign
fires, tobacco companies
science shows that flame
lives. But he now acknowledges the storiesfindings
he told lawmakers
about
victims
were
to boost demand for
the
created
a new scapegoat
— the
retardants prevent fire de
chemicals even though
furniture going up in flames —
and are safe, but the resea
Four-part investigation
they don’t work as billed
and invested in a national group
they often cite is either
not always factual.
and put our health at risk.
of fire officials that would
seriously flawed or grossly
deliver the message.
distorted.
He told the Tribune his testimony in California was “an anecdotal story rather
than anything which I would say was absolutely true under oath, because I wasn’t
under oath.”
NATO summit
At 9
Whatofdo
mothers
want?
to be a hard road
Heimbach, a retired Seattle doctor and
former
president
the
American
Burn
for motorists
sile
Chicago
officials
are
Association, also said his anecdotes were
not
about
different
children
but
about
the
The fiv
describing a long list of
the 9/11
road closings, parking bans
masterm
and mass-transit
reroutes
same infant. But records and interviews
show
that
the
baby
Heimbach
said
he
had
hamme
during the NATO summit
test bef
weekend as “minor inconGuanta
in mind when testifying didn’t die as he
described
and that flame
retardants
were
Mother’s
Day is just a week away.
Faced with the annual
veniences,”
but independurday.
task of divining what mothers want, the Tribune’s Ellen
ent transportation experts
Warren smartly turned to ... mothers. Each woman shared
aren’t so sure. Their best
not a factor.
two ideas: one that money can buy, and one that money
advice to drivers planning
can’t buy. And yes, sleep made the list.
to head downtown on
Airlin
May 19-21? Don’t
do it.
After the Tribune confronted chemical
executives
with Heimbach’s
questionGood d
Fresh ideas for heartfelt gifts.
able testimony, he offered, through his lawyer, another explanation for why his stoChicago
Weather Center: Complete
$1.99 city and su
ries didn’t add up: He intentionally changedTom
theSkilling’s
facts to
protect
privacy.
forecast
High 73 patient
Low 60 forecast
in Nation & World, Page 43
165th year No. 12
Yet the most crucial parts of his testimony — the cause of the fire and the lack of
flame retardants — had nothing to do with privacy. Instead, they served to bolster
Playing with f
Tribune reporters
D
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION PHOTO
UP IN FLAMES: Government scientists found that chairs containing flame retardants, like the
one being tested above, burned just as fast as identical chairs without them. Story, Page 22
INDUSTRY DECEPTION
Sunday
TOBACCO’S CLOUT
DISTORTING SCIENCE
Tuesday
Wednesday
N
Sunday section
Chicagoland, Page 4
Plus:
Money & Real Estate
the industry’s argument that chemical retardants save lives.
In the last quarter-century, worldwide demand for flame retardants has skyrocketed to 3.4 billion pounds in 2009 from 526 million pounds in 1983, according to
market research from The Freedonia Group, which projects demand will reach 4.4
billion pounds by 2014.
As evidence of the health risks associated with these chemicals piled up, the industry mounted a misleading campaign to fuel demand.
There is no better example of these deceptive tactics than the Citizens for Fire
Safety Institute, the industry front group that sponsored Heimbach and his vivid
testimony about burned babies.
Fear and deception
In the website photo, five grinning children stand in front of a red brick fire station that could be on any corner in America. They hold a hand-drawn banner that
says “fire safety” with a heart dotting the letter “i.”
Citizens for Fire Safety describes itself as a group of people with altruistic intentions: “a coalition of fire professionals, educators, community activists, burn centers,
doctors, fire departments and industry leaders, united to ensure that our country is
protected by the highest standards of fire safety.”
“I’m
well-meaning
Heimbach summoned that image when he told lawmakers
thatathe
organization guy. I’m not
— Dr.
David Heimbach,
a burn expert. Above, Heimb
was “made up of many people like me who have no particular
interest
in the chemiflame retardant chemicals in furniture. He told the T
cal companies: numerous fire departments, numerous firefighters and many, many
burn docs.”
But public records demonstrate that Citizens for Fire
Safety actually is a trade association for chemical companies. Its executive director, Grant Gillham, honed
his political skills advising tobacco executives. And the
group’s efforts to influence fire-safety policies are guided by a mission to “promote common business interests
of members involved with the chemical manufacturing
industry,” tax records show.
Its only sources of funding — about $17 million between 2008 and 2010 — are “membership dues and assessments” and the interest that money earns.
The group has only three members: Albemarle, ICL
Industrial Products and Chemtura, according to records the organization filed with California lobbying
regulators.
Those three companies are the largest manufacturers of flame retardants and together control 40 percent
This 2008 ad in the Los Angeles
of the world market for these chemicals, according to
“Citizen
Times helped Citizens for Fire
The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based research firm.
Safety, a front group for the makthemse
ers of flame retardant chemicals,
Citizens for Fire Safety has spent its money primarwhen it
defeat a California bill that would
have reduced the widespread use
ily on lobbying and political expenses, tax records show.
of flame retardants in products.
— Matt Vin
Since federal law makes it nearly impossible for the
EPA to ban toxic chemicals and Congress rarely steps
in, state legislatures from Alaska to Vermont have become the sites of intense battles
over flame retardants.
Continued from Page 20
Many of the witnesses supporting flame retardants at these
hearings were either
about
its funding
Citizens for Many flame re
paid directly by Citizens for Fire Safety or were members ofFire
groups
that ofbenefited
Safety.
by taking the p
financially from Citizens for Fire Safety’s donations, according
tax that
documents
“We to
believe
this support stered furnitur
for advocacy groups is critical to
and other records.
raise awareness of the importance
fireopposition
safety and giveas
a voice
At the same time, Citizens for Fire Safety has portrayedofits
mis-to Penta and oc
Types
those who want to speak out on
this important public issue,” Clary
said in a written statement.
Citizens for Fire Safety is the
latest in a string of industry groups
that have sprung up on different
continents in the last 15 years —
Polybrominate
diphenyl ether
or PBDEs
Build up rapidly
guided, wealthy environmentalists. But its opponents include a diverse group of
public health advocates as well as firefighters who are alarmed by studies showing
some flame retardants can make smoke from fires even more toxic.
Matt Vinci, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Vermont, faced what
he called “dirty tactics” when he successfully lobbied for his state to ban one flame
retardant chemical in 2009.
Particularly offensive to Vinci were letters Citizens for Fire Safety sent to Vermont fire chiefs saying the ban would “present an additional hazard for those of us
in the fire safety profession.” But the letter’s author wasn’t a firefighter; he was a
California public relations consultant.
“Citizens for Fire Safety did everything they could to portray themselves as firefighters, as Vermont citizens for fire safety, when it really wasn’t Vermont citizens
for fire safety at all,” Vinci said.
The group also has misrepresented itself in other ways. On its website, Citizens for
Fire Safety said it had joined
with the international firefighters’ association, the Amer“I’m a well-meaning guy. I’m not in the pocket of industry.”
ican Burn Association and— aDr. key
federal
agency
“totestifies
conduct
studies
toreduced
ensure
David Heimbach,
a burn expert.
Above, Heimbach
in 2011 against a ongoing
California state Senate
bill that could have
the use of
flame retardant chemicals in furniture. He told the Tribune that Citizens for Fire Safety has paid for his travel to testify and for some of his time.
safe and effective fire prevention.”
Both of those organizations and
the federal agency, however, said that
simply is not true.
“They are lying,” said Jeff Zack,
a spokesman for the International
Association of Fire Fighters. “They
aren’t working with us on anything.”
After inquiries from the Tribune,
Citizens for Fire Safety deleted that
passage from its website.
JORDAN SILVERMAN/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
“Citizens
for
Fire
Safety
did everything they could to portray
Gillham, the executive director,
“Citizens
for Fire
Safety
didfor fire safety,
themselves
as firefighters,
as Vermont
citizens
declined to comment. Albemarle,
when it really wasn’t Vermont citizens for fire safety at all.”
everything they could to portray
— Matt Vinci, above, president of a Vermont firefighters union, who lobbied against a flame retardant
Chemtura and ICL Industrial Prodthemselves as firefighters, as
ucts also declined to answer specific
Vermont citizens for fire safety,
questions about the group.
Types
ofitflame
retardants
when
really
wasn’t Vermont
about its funding of Citizens for Many
Albemarle Chief Sustainability
flame retardants are made with bromine or chlorine, which slow fire’s combustive reaction
Fire Safety.
by taking the place of oxygen. However, tests have cast doubt on whether adding the chemicals to uphol“We believe that this support stered furniture is effective, and concerns over health risks have forced some products off the market.
citizens for fire safety at all.”
advocacy
groups ishis
critical to
Officer David Clary did forraise
say
that
awareness of the importance
of fire safety and give a voice to
company has been transparent
— Matt Vinci, above, president of a Vermont firefighters
those who wantabout
to speak out on
this important public issue,” Clary
union, who lobbied against a flame retardant.
said in a written statement.
its funding of Citizens for Fire
Safety.
Citizens for
Fire Safety is the
latest in a string of industry groups
have sprung up on different
“We believe that this that
support
continents
in the last for
15 years —
casting doubt on health concerns,
shooting
down
restrictions
and
advocacy groups is critical
to
raise
awareness
of the importance of fire safety and
working to expand the market for
flame retardants.
example, the
Scigive a voice to those whoenceFor
want
toBromine
speak
out on this important public issue,” Clary
and Environmental Forum,
based in Brussels, may sound like a
neutral scientific body. But it was
said in a written statement.
founded and funded by four
chemical manufacturers, includCitizens for Fire Safetying
isAlbemarle,
the latest
to influence in
the a string of industry groups that have sprung
debate about flame retardants
made with bromine.
up on different continentsAlbemarle’s
in the
globallast
director15
of years — casting doubt on health concerns,
product advocacy, Raymond Dawson, said in blunt testimony before
shooting down restrictions
andstateworking
to expand the market for flame retardants.
Washington
lawmakers in
2007 that the forum is “a group
dedicated
to
generating
science
in
For example, the Bromine
Science and Environmental Forum, based in Brussels,
support of brominated flame retardants.”
An
official from Burson-Marmay sound like a neutralsteller,
scientific
body. But it was founded and funded by four
the global public relations
firm that helps run the organizasaid the bromine group
is not
chemical manufacturers,tion,
including
Albemarle,
to influence the debate about flame
misleading anyone because regu- ant manufacturers. The alliance’s allows visitors to choose a Euro- ‘A child crying’
lators, scientists and other stake- director, Bob Graham, said the pean country and watch a sofa
retardants made with bromine.
The amount of flame retardants
holders are well-aware it repre- group’s aim is to improve fire- from that nation being torched.
sents industry.
safety standards for upholstered
Next to a photo of an easy chair in a typical American home isn’t
The PR firm also helps run the furniture sold in Europe.
fully engulfed in flames, four measured in parts per billion or
Albemarle’s global director
of product
advocacy,
Raymond
Dawson,
said
in blunt
per million.
It’s measured in
Alliance for Consumer
Fire Safety
The group’s website taps
into words stand out
in large capital parts
in Europe, which is funded by a the public’s fear of fire, touting an letters: “ARE YOU SITTING ounces and pounds.
couch can have up to 2
trade association of flame retard- “interactive burn test tool” that COMFORTABLY?”
testimony before Washington
state lawmakers in 2007 that the forum Aislarge“a
group
dedicated to generating science in support of brominated flame retardants.”
An official from Burson-Marsteller, the global public relations firm that helps
run the organization, said the bromine group is not misleading anyone because regROBERT DURELL/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
JORDAN SILVERMAN/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
This 2008 ad in the Los Angeles
Times helped Citizens for Fire
Safety, a front group for the makers of flame retardant chemicals,
defeat a California bill that would
have reduced the widespread use
of flame retardants in products.
Continued from Page 20
CHEMICALS
Penta and octa
Polybrominated
diphenyl ethers,
or PBDEs
Deca
Also a PBDE
Chlorinated tris
Also known as
TDCCP
Build up rapidly in
breast milk and
human blood.
Hormone disruption,
developmental
problems, neurological deficits, impaired
fertility.
Persists in the
environment and
creates penta as it
breaks down.
Potential carcinogen,
neurological deficits.
Not in use.
After the European
Union voted in 2003 to
ban the chemicals,
U.S. makers pulled
them from the market.
Penta is still present in
older furniture, other
products containing
foam and recycled
carpet padding.
Being phased out.
Manufacturers
voluntarily agreed
to end production
by December 2013.
It is still present
in the casing of older
electronics and
in wire insulation,
textiles, automobiles
and airplanes.
Firemaster 550
Brand name
HAZARDS
Probable carcinogen,
neurological deficits.
Chemical’s brominated components
found in wildlife.
Levels increasing in
air around the Great
Lakes. Developmental problems
at high doses.
STATUS
Still in use.
Voluntarily removed
from children’s
sleepwear in late
1970s but still widely
used in furniture
foam. Also has been
found in baby
products containing
polyurethane foam.
SOURCES: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission,
National Research Council, peer-reviewed research.
Still in use.
Introduced in 2003
as a replacement
for penta. Identified
for “high priority”
review by U.S.
Environmental
Protection Agency.
TRIBUNE
pounds in its foam cushi
chemicals also are insid
highchairs, diaper-chang
and breast-feeding pillow
clers turn chemically trea
into the padding underne
pets.
“When we’re eating
we’re avoiding very
amounts of pesticides,”
lene Blum, a California
who has fought to lim
retardants in household p
“Then we sit on our co
can contain a pound of c
that’s from the same f
banned pesticides like DD
These chemicals are ub
not because federal rules
it. In fact, scientists at
Consumer Product Safe
mission have determined
flame retardants in ho
furniture aren’t effecti
some pose unnecessary
risks.
The chemicals are wid
because of an obscu
adopted by California re
in 1975. Back then, a state
devised an easy-to-replic
test that didn’t require m
turers to set furniture on
expensive proposition.
The test calls for expo
foam to a candle-like flam
seconds. The cheapest wa
the test is to add flame re
to the foam inside cushio
But couches aren’t m
foam alone. In a real
upholstery fabric, typic
treated with flame re
burns first, and the flam
big enough that they ove
even fire-retardant foam
tists at two federal agenc
found.
Nevertheless, in the
since that rule went int
lawyers have regularly arg
their burn-victim client
have been spared if on
sofas had been made with
nia foam. Faced with the
of these lawsuits —
logistical challenge of pr
separate products just for
nia — many manufacture
using flame retardant foa
their product lines.
As a result, California
come the most critica
ground in recent years
vocates trying to reduce th
lence of these chemicals i
can homes.
Citizens for Fire Sa
successfully fought back
powerful, and surprisin
making flame retardants
issue.
The group and witnes
ties to it have argued tha
erished, minority childre
burn to death if flame re
were removed from ho
products.
In 2009, for instance, m
of the California State A
were considering a bill th
have made it unnecessar
flame retardants to ma
products by excluding th
the state’s flammability
tion.
Up to the microphone
Zyra McCloud, an African
can community activist
glewood, Calif.
McCloud was preside
community group that lis
zens for Fire Safety as a
on its website and include
of McCloud with Gillh
executive director. She
disclose this connection
assembly, nor was she ask
In a news release, Cit
Fire Safety already had
McCloud saying that
children, who constitut
proportionate share of fir
would bear the brunt
“ill-conceived and unsafe
tion.”
At the hearing, the co
chairwoman told both si
were out of time for testim
McCloud pleaded with
allow two elementary sch
dents from her district to
lawmakers.
“We have spent all w
long with the kids that h
family members and frie
have died in fires, and
praying and appealing to
you would at least allow
boys to speak,” she said.
One of the boys, a 10read from a statement.
“I just want you to im
child crying for help in a
building, dying, when the
person who only had to
save their life,” he said.
Citizens for Fire Saf
vailed. The bill later went
defeat.
McCloud told the
“I’ve always been a pers
fought against things tha
hurt children.” She then a
questions in writing bu
answered them.
Nearly two years after
failed, one of the nation’s
surgeons would also inv
image of a dead child
California lawmakers on
Please turn to Next Page
safety codes and standards necessary to protect life and property in
a modern world,” John Gustavsen,
a Chemtura spokesman, said in a
written statement.
His company, Gustavsen said,
strongly disagrees with the main
findings of the Tribune’s investigation.
Heimbach, the burn doctor, has
regularly supported the industry’s
position that flame retardants save
lives. But he now acknowledges
the stories he told lawmakers
about victims were not always
factual.
He told the Tribune his testimony in California was “an anecdotal story rather than anything
which I would say was absolutely
true under oath, because I wasn’t
under oath.”
Heimbach, a retired Seattle
doctor and former president of the
American Burn Association, also
said his anecdotes were not about
different children but about the
same infant. But records and
interviews show that the baby
Heimbach said he had in mind
when testifying didn’t die as he
described and that flame retardants were not a factor.
After the Tribune confronted
chemical executives with Heimbach’s questionable testimony, he
offered, through his lawyer, another explanation for why his
stories didn’t add up: He intentionally changed the facts to protect patient privacy.
Yet the most crucial parts of his
testimony — the cause of the fire
and the lack of flame retardants —
had nothing to do with privacy.
Instead, they served to bolster the
industry’s argument that chemical
retardants save lives.
In the last quarter-century,
worldwide demand for flame retardants has skyrocketed to 3.4
billion pounds in 2009 from 526
million pounds in 1983, according
to market research from The
Freedonia Group, which projects
demand will reach 4.4 billion
pounds by 2014.
As evidence of the health risks
associated with these chemicals
piled up, the industry mounted a
misleading campaign to fuel demand.
There is no better example of
these deceptive tactics than the
Citizens for Fire Safety Institute,
the industry front group that
sponsored Heimbach and his vivid testimony about burned babies.
Labels provide
little help when
ulators, scientists and other stakeholders are well-aware it represents industry.
picking products
The PR firm also helps run the Alliance for Consumer Fire Safety in Europe,
By Michael
Hawthorne
which is funded by a trade association of flame
retardant
manufacturers. The alliTribune reporter
ance’s director, Bob Graham, said the group’s aim
is to improve fire-safety standards
Most parents are forced to guess if toys,
furniture
and other household products are
for upholstered furniture sold in Europe. exposing their
kids to toxic chemicals.
Heather
can figure itan
out“interactive
in her
The group’s website taps into the public’s laboratory.
fear
of Stapleton
fire, touting
burn
A
furniture
tag
indicates the foam has bee
Stapleton, country
an environmental
at a sofa from
test tool” that allows visitors to choose a European
andchemist
watch
Duke University, is one of the nation’s treated with fire retardants. But even item
leading experts on flame retardants. Her lacking this tag may have been treated.
that nation being torched.
research shows that it is extremely difficult
to avoid the
which
she has
found stand
In her own
Next to a photo of an easy chair fully engulfed
inchemicals,
flames,
four
words
outhome,
in Stapleton switched th
not only in furniture cushions, but also in living room from carpet to hardwood floor
such unlikely fire hazards as breast-feeding in an attempt to keep dust from accumulat
large capital letters: “ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?”
‘A child crying’
ALEX GARCIA/TRIBUNE PHOT
pillows and diaper-changing pads.
“We detect these chemicals in almost
every home, particularly in dust,” Stapleton
said. “When people ask me how to prevent
their kids from being exposed, I find it a
difficult question to answer.”
ing.
She also bought mattresses made wit
organic materials for her 3-year-old son an
year-old daughter to nap on at their day car
center. Her tests showed the center
regular foam mattresses were treated wit
The amount of flame retardants in a typical American home isn’t measured in
parts per billion or parts per million. It’s measured in ounces and pounds.
A large couch can have up to 2 pounds in its foam cushions. The chemicals also
are inside some highchairs, diaper-changing pads and breast-feeding pillows. Recyclers turn chemically treated foam
into the padding underneath carpets.
“When we’re eating organic, we’re
avoiding very small amounts of pesticides,” said Arlene Blum, a California
chemist who has fought to limit flame
retardants in household products.
“Then we sit on our couch that can
contain a pound of chemicals that’s
from the same family as banned pesticides like DDT.”
ROBERT DURELL/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
These chemicals are ubiquitous
“When we’re eating organic, we’re
not because federal rules demand
“When we’re eating organic, we’re avoiding
avoiding
small
amountsThen
of we
it. In fact, scientists at the U.S. Convery
small very
amounts
of pesticides.
sumer Product Safety Commission
pesticides.
Then
wecan
sitcontain
on ouracouch
sit
on our couch
that
pound
Fear
and
deception
have determined that the flame retarof
chemicals
that’s from
the same
family as
that
can contain
a pound
of chemiIn the website photo, five grinpesticides
dants in householdningfurniture
children standaren’t
in front of a banned
cals that’s
fromlike
theDDT.”
same family as
red brick fire station that could be
—
Arlene
Blum,
a
California
chemist
who
fighting to limit flame
effective, and some pose
unnecessary
on any corner in America. They banned pesticides like isDDT.”
hold a hand-drawn banner that retardants in household products. Above, she waits to testify before the
state Senate in 2011.
health risks.
says “fire safety” with a heart California
— Arlene Blum, a California chemist who is fighting to limit
dotting the letter “i.”
The chemicals areCitizens
widely
be- de- flame retardants in household products. Above, she waits to
for used
Fire Safety
testify
before the
California
statepolitical
Senate skills
in 2011.
scribes itself as a group of people the
organization
was
“made up of
advising tobacco
cause of an obscurewith
rule
adopted
altruistic
intentions: by
“a coali- many people like me who have no executives. And the group’s efforts
tion of fire professionals, educa- particular interest in the chemical to influence fire-safety policies are
California regulators
1975.activists,
Backburn companies: numerous fire depart- guided by a mission to “promote
tors, in
community
centers, doctors, fire departments ments, numerous firefighters and common business interests of
then, a state chemistanddevised
an easy-to-replicate
burn
didn’t require
manindustry leaders,
united to many, many burn
docs.”test thatmembers
involved with
the
ensure that our country is proBut public records demonstrate chemical manufacturing indusufacturers to set furniture
on
fire,
an
expensive
proposition.
tected by the highest standards of that Citizens for Fire Safety actu- try,” tax records show.
safety.”
ally is a trade association for
Its only sources of funding —
The test calls forfireexposing
raw foam to
a candle-like flame for
12 seconds. The
Heimbach summoned that im- chemical companies. Its executive about $17 million between 2008
age
when
he
told
lawmakers
that
director,
Grant
Gillham,
honed
his
and
2010
— are “membership
dues
cheapest way to pass the test is to add flame retardants to the foam inside
cushions.
But couches aren’t made of foam alone. In a real fire, the upholstery fabric, typically not treated with flame retardants, burns first, and the flames grow big enough
that they overwhelm even fire-retardant foam, scientists at two federal agencies
have found.
Nevertheless, in the decades since that rule went into effect, lawyers have regularly argued that their burn-victim clients would have been spared if only their sofas
had been made with California foam. Faced with the specter of these lawsuits — and
the logistical challenge of producing separate products just for California — many
manufacturers began using flame retardant foam across their product lines.
As a result, California has become the most critical battleground in recent years
for advocates trying to reduce the prevalence of these chemicals in American homes.
ROBERT DURELL/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
and assessments” a
that money earns.
The group has o
bers: Albemarle,
Products and Che
ing to records th
filed with Califo
regulators.
Those three com
largest manufactu
retardants and to
40 percent of the w
these chemicals, ac
Freedonia Group,
based research firm
Citizens for Fi
spent its money
lobbying and poli
tax records show.
law makes it nearly
the EPA to ban t
and Congress rarel
legislatures from
mont have becom
intense battles ove
dants.
Many of the witn
ing flame retard
hearings were eith
by Citizens for Fire
members of groups
financially from C
Safety’s donations
tax documents and
At the same tim
Fire Safety has port
sition as misguided
ronmentalists. But
include a diverse g
health advocates a
fighters who are al
ies showing some
dants can make sm
even more toxic.
Matt Vinci, pre
Professional Fire F
mont, faced what h
tactics” when he su
Citizens for Fire Safety has successfully fought back with a powerful, and surprising, tactic: making flame retardants a racial issue.
The group and witnesses with ties to it have argued that impoverished, minority children would burn to death if flame retardants were removed from household
products.
In 2009, for instance, members of the California State Assembly were considering a bill that would have made it unnecessary to add flame retardants to many baby
products by excluding them from the state’s flammability regulation.
Up to the microphone stepped Zyra McCloud, an African-American community
activist from Inglewood, Calif.
McCloud was president of a community group that listed Citizens for Fire Safety
as a sponsor on its website and included photos of McCloud with Gillham, the execudsheet PubDate: 05-06-2012
Zone: ALL
SHDdisclose
Page: MAIN1-20
User: grejohnson
Time:assembly,
05-05-2012 22:24
Color:she
K asked.
Y
M
C
tive director.
SheEdition:
did not
this connection
to the
nor was
In a news release, Citizens for Fire Safety already had quoted McCloud saying that minority children, who constitute a disproportionate share of fire deaths,
Sunday, May 6, 2012 B
would bear the brunt of the “ill-conceived and unsafe legislation.”
At the hearing, the committee chairwoman told both sides they were out of time
TCHDOG for testimony, but McCloud pleaded with her to allow two elementary school stuH FIRE
dents from her district to address lawmakers.
“We have spent all weekend long with the kids that have had family members
and friends who have died in fires, and we are praying and appealing to you that you
would at least allow the two boys to speak,” she said.
One of the boys, a 10-year-old, read from a statement.
t group stokes fear of fire
m
me
he
Bahat
ed
nt
old
he
sts
me
re
re
Chemicals hard to avoid
Flame retardants are present in virtually every American home even though some of the compounds have been linked to neurological
deficits, developmental problems, impaired fertility and other health risks.
WHERE FLAME RETARDANTS ARE FOUND
In the plastic casing
of some electronics
In home insulation
oas
rahe
es
he
osa
nt
its
ial
ers
me
ns.
a
to
in
rle
uay
ecen
npe.
an
acre
esin
en,
na
In upholstered furniture
containing polyurethane foam —
manufacturers add it to meet
flammability standards enacted by
California but followed nationwide
In dust — children are
exposed to higher doses of
flame retardants than adults
because they spend more
time on the floor and put
things in their mouths
In carpet padding made
with recycled foam
SOURCES: EPA, Tribune reporting
In some baby products
containing polyurethane
foam, including highchairs
and diaper-changing pads
KATIE NIELAND/TRIBUNE
one of the flame retardant chemicals she
“I just want you to imagine a child crying for help in a burning building, dying,
when there was a person who only had to vote to save their life,” he said.
Citizens for Fire Safety prevailed. The bill later went down to defeat.
McCloud told the Tribune, “I’ve always been a person that’s fought against
things that would hurt children.” She then asked for questions in writing but never
answered them.
Nearly two years after that bill failed, one of the nation’s top burn surgeons would
also invoke the image of a dead child before California lawmakers on behalf of Citizens for Fire Safety.
When Dr. David Heimbach walked into the California Senate committee hearing
last year, the stakes had never been higher for flame retardant manufacturers.
Once again, senators were considering an overhaul of the state’s flammability
regulation — one that advocates believed would dramatically reduce the amount of
flame retardants in American homes.
The bill would allow manufacturers to choose the existing candlelike flame test or a new one based
on a smoldering cigarette, a far more
common source of fires than candles.
Manufacturers could pass the new
test by using resistant fabrics rather
than adding toxic chemicals to the
foam inside.
To maintain the status quo — and
avoid a hit to the bottom line — chemical makers needed to stress that fires
ROBERT DURELL/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
“I’m
a
well-meaning
guy.
I’m
not
in
the
pocket of industry.”
started by candles were a serious
“I’m a well-meaning
guy. I’m not in
threat.
the pocket of industry.”
Heimbach, Citizens for Fire Safe— Dr. David Heimbach, a burn expert. Above, Heimbach
ty’s star witness, did just that.
testifies in 2011 against a California state Senate bill that
could have reduced the use of flame retardant chemicals in
With Citizens for Fire Safety’s
furniture. He told the Tribune that Citizens for Fire Safety
has paid for his travel to testify and for some of his time.
Gillham watching from the audience,
Heimbach not only passionately described the fatal burns a 7-week-old Alaska patient received lying on a pillow that
lacked flame retardants, he also blamed the 2010 blaze on a candle.
“Citizens for Fire Safety did everything they could to portray
In fact, he specifically said the baby’s mother had placed
a candle in the girl’s crib.
themselves as firefighters, as Vermont citizens for fire safety,
when it really wasn’t Vermont citizens for fire safety at all.”
Heimbach had told similar stories before, the Tribune found. In 2009, he told
a California State Assembly committee that he had treated a 9-week-old girl who
died that spring after a candle beside her crib turned Types
over.of“We
to split open her
flamehad
retardants
fingers because they were so charred,” he testified.
In 2010, he told Alaska lawmakers about a 6-week-old girl from Washington state
who died that year after a dog knocked a candle onto her crib, which did not have a
flame retardant mattress.
Heimbach’s hospital in Seattle, Harborview Medical Center, declined to help the
Tribune confirm his accounts. But records from the King County medical examiner’s office show that no child matching Heimbach’s descriptions has died in his
hospital in the last 16 years.
The only infant who came close in terms of age and date of death was Nancy
Garcia-Diaz, a 6-week-old who died in 2009 after a house fire in rural Washington.
‘A child crying’
In an interview, Heimbach said his anecdotes were all about the same baby —
one who died at his hospital, though he didn’t know the child’s name. Contrary to
his testimony, he said he had not taken care of the patient.
Product: CTBroadsheet PubDate: 05-06-2012 Zone: ALL
Edition: SHD
Page: MAIN1-21 User: grejohnson
Time: 05-05-2012
B
22:23 Color: K
Chicago Tribune | Section 1 | Sunday, May 6, 2012
ROBERT DURELL/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
— Dr. David Heimbach, a burn expert. Above, Heimbach testifies in 2011 against a California state Senate bill that could have reduced the use of
flame retardant chemicals in furniture. He told the Tribune that Citizens for Fire Safety has paid for his travel to testify and for some of his time.
JORDAN SILVERMAN/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
This 2008 ad in the Los Angeles
Times helped Citizens for Fire
Safety, a front group for the makers of flame retardant chemicals,
defeat a California bill that would
have reduced the widespread use
of flame retardants in products.
— Matt Vinci, above, president of a Vermont firefighters union, who lobbied against a flame retardant
Continued from Page 20
about its funding of Citizens for
Fire Safety.
“We believe that this support
for advocacy groups is critical to
raise awareness of the importance
of fire safety and give a voice to
those who want to speak out on
this important public issue,” Clary
said in a written statement.
Citizens for Fire Safety is the
latest in a string of industry groups
that have sprung up on different
continents in the last 15 years —
casting doubt on health concerns,
shooting down restrictions and
working to expand the market for
flame retardants.
For example, the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum,
based in Brussels, may sound like a
neutral scientific body. But it was
founded and funded by four
chemical manufacturers, including Albemarle, to influence the
debate about flame retardants
made with bromine.
Albemarle’s global director of
product advocacy, Raymond Dawson, said in blunt testimony before
Washington state lawmakers in
2007 that the forum is “a group
dedicated to generating science in
support of brominated flame retardants.”
An official from Burson-Marsteller, the global public relations
firm that helps run the organization, said the bromine group is not
misleading anyone because regulators, scientists and other stakeholders are well-aware it represents industry.
The PR firm also helps run the
Alliance for Consumer Fire Safety
in Europe, which is funded by a
trade association of flame retard-
Many flame retardants are made with bromine or chlorine, which slow fire’s combustive reaction
by taking the place of oxygen. However, tests have cast doubt on whether adding the chemicals to upholstered furniture is effective, and concerns over health risks have forced some products off the market.
CHEMICALS
Penta and octa
Polybrominated
diphenyl ethers,
or PBDEs
Deca
Also a PBDE
Chlorinated tris
Also known as
TDCCP
Build up rapidly in
breast milk and
human blood.
Hormone disruption,
developmental
problems, neurological deficits, impaired
fertility.
Persists in the
environment and
creates penta as it
breaks down.
Potential carcinogen,
neurological deficits.
Not in use.
After the European
Union voted in 2003 to
ban the chemicals,
U.S. makers pulled
them from the market.
Penta is still present in
older furniture, other
products containing
foam and recycled
carpet padding.
Being phased out.
Manufacturers
voluntarily agreed
to end production
by December 2013.
It is still present
in the casing of older
electronics and
in wire insulation,
textiles, automobiles
and airplanes.
Firemaster 550
Brand name
HAZARDS
Probable carcinogen,
neurological deficits.
Chemical’s brominated components
found in wildlife.
Levels increasing in
air around the Great
Lakes. Developmental problems
at high doses.
STATUS
Still in use.
Voluntarily removed
from children’s
sleepwear in late
1970s but still widely
used in furniture
foam. Also has been
found in baby
products containing
polyurethane foam.
SOURCES: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission,
National Research Council, peer-reviewed research.
ant manufacturers. The alliance’s
director, Bob Graham, said the
group’s aim is to improve firesafety standards for upholstered
furniture sold in Europe.
The group’s website taps into
the public’s fear of fire, touting an
“interactive burn test tool” that
allows visitors to choose a European country and watch a sofa
from that nation being torched.
Next to a photo of an easy chair
fully engulfed in flames, four
words stand out in large capital
letters: “ARE YOU SITTING
COMFORTABLY?”
Still in use.
Introduced in 2003
as a replacement
for penta. Identified
for “high priority”
review by U.S.
Environmental
Protection Agency.
TRIBUNE
The amount of flame retardants
in a typical American home isn’t
measured in parts per billion or
parts per million. It’s measured in
ounces and pounds.
A large couch can have up to 2
21
pounds in its foam cushions. The
chemicals also are inside some
highchairs, diaper-changing pads
and breast-feeding pillows. Recyclers turn chemically treated foam
into the padding underneath carpets.
“When we’re eating organic,
we’re avoiding very small
amounts of pesticides,” said Arlene Blum, a California chemist
who has fought to limit flame
retardants in household products.
“Then we sit on our couch that
can contain a pound of chemicals
that’s from the same family as
banned pesticides like DDT.”
These chemicals are ubiquitous
not because federal rules demand
it. In fact, scientists at the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission have determined that the
flame retardants in household
furniture aren’t effective, and
some pose unnecessary health
risks.
The chemicals are widely used
because of an obscure rule
adopted by California regulators
in 1975. Back then, a state chemist
devised an easy-to-replicate burn
test that didn’t require manufacturers to set furniture on fire, an
expensive proposition.
The test calls for exposing raw
foam to a candle-like flame for 12
seconds. The cheapest way to pass
the test is to add flame retardants
to the foam inside cushions.
But couches aren’t made of
foam alone. In a real fire, the
upholstery fabric, typically not
treated with flame retardants,
burns first, and the flames grow
big enough that they overwhelm
even fire-retardant foam, scientists at two federal agencies have
found.
Nevertheless, in the decades
since that rule went into effect,
lawyers have regularly argued that
their burn-victim clients would
have been spared if only their
sofas had been made with California foam. Faced with the specter
of these lawsuits — and the
logistical challenge of producing
separate products just for California — many manufacturers began
using flame retardant foam across
their product lines.
As a result, California has become the most critical battleground in recent years for advocates trying to reduce the prevalence of these chemicals in American homes.
Citizens for Fire Safety has
successfully fought back with a
powerful, and surprising, tactic:
making flame retardants a racial
issue.
The group and witnesses with
ties to it have argued that impoverished, minority children would
burn to death if flame retardants
were removed from household
products.
In 2009, for instance, members
of the California State Assembly
were considering a bill that would
have made it unnecessary to add
flame retardants to many baby
products by excluding them from
the state’s flammability regulation.
Up to the microphone stepped
Zyra McCloud, an African-American community activist from Inglewood, Calif.
McCloud was president of a
community group that listed Citizens for Fire Safety as a sponsor
on its website and included photos
of McCloud with Gillham, the
executive director. She did not
disclose this connection to the
assembly, nor was she asked.
In a news release, Citizens for
Fire Safety already had quoted
McCloud saying that minority
children, who constitute a disproportionate share of fire deaths,
would bear the brunt of the
“ill-conceived and unsafe legislation.”
At the hearing, the committee
chairwoman told both sides they
were out of time for testimony, but
McCloud pleaded with her to
allow two elementary school students from her district to address
lawmakers.
“We have spent all weekend
long with the kids that have had
family members and friends who
have died in fires, and we are
praying and appealing to you that
you would at least allow the two
boys to speak,” she said.
One of the boys, a 10-year-old,
read from a statement.
“I just want you to imagine a
child crying for help in a burning
building, dying, when there was a
person who only had to vote to
save their life,” he said.
Citizens for Fire Safety prevailed. The bill later went down to
defeat.
McCloud told the Tribune,
“I’ve always been a person that’s
fought against things that would
hurt children.” She then asked for
questions in writing but never
answered them.
Nearly two years after that bill
failed, one of the nation’s top burn
surgeons would also invoke the
image of a dead child before
California lawmakers on behalf of
Please turn to Next Page
TRIBUNE WATCHDOG
PLAYING WITH FIRE
Te
tr
of
sa
Told about Nancy,
Heimbach
said
Stories
about
she was probably
the babybabies
he had
burned
in mind and emailed a Tribune redon’t of
add
up
porter two photographs
a severely
Continued
from Page
burned child, images
that
he 21said he
Citizens for Fire Safety.
had used in a presentation
at a mediWhen Dr. David Heimbach
walked into the
California Senate
cal conference. Medical
records
and
committee hearing last year, the
those
picstakes
been SHD
higher
for
duct: CTBroadsheetNancy’s
PubDate: mother
05-06-2012 confirmed
Zone: had
ALLnever
Edition:
Page:
MAIN1-22 User: grejohnson Time: 05-05-2012 22:23 Color: K
flame retardant manufacturers.
tures were indeedOnce
of Nancy.
again, senators were conFire
sidering an overhaul of the state’s
But Nancy didn’t
dieregulation
in a —fire
flammability
one
effec
that advocates believed would
ne | Section 1 | Sunday,
May 6, 2012by
Ba candle,
caused
as
Heimbach
has
dramatically reduce the amount of
By M
flame Fire
retardants
in American
repeatedly testified.
records
obTribune
homes.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FAMILY
UNE WATCHDOG
The bill
would allow
manufactained by the Tribune
show
the
blaze
The
turers to choose the existing
ING WITH FIRE
“Nancy’smemory
memory
is sacred
to us. My
fire-sn
candle-like
flame test or a overnew one
was caused by an
overloaded,
“Nancy’s
is
sacred
to
us.
differe
based on a smoldering cigarette, a
daughter
deserves
But
more common source of fires
heated extensionfarcord.
My
daughter
deservesrespect.
respect.She
She lived
lived
flame
than candles. Manufacturers
such
sheshe
suffered
a lot.
“There were could
no candles,
no bypets
suchaashort
shorttime
timeand
and
suffered
a
retarda
pass the new test
using
in flam
resistant fabrics rather than addThis
is horrible.”
— just the misuseingoftoxic
extension
“We
chemicals tocords,”
the foam
lot. This
is horrible.”
signific
inside.
—
Mother
of
Nancy
Garcia-Diaz,
above,
a
6-week-old
girl
who
died
said Mike Makela,
an
investigator
for
Consu
To maintain the status quo —
— Mother of Nancy Garcia-Diaz, above, a 6-week-old girl
in 2009 after a house fire in rural Washington
2009 t
and avoid a hit to the bottom line
who
died
in
2009
after
a
house
fire
in
rural
Washington.
the Snohomish County
marshal’s
Mor
— chemicalfire
makers
needed to
similar
stress
that
fires
started
by
candles
office.
inhala
were a serious threat.
The
facts,
he
addedon
newaones,
such as
Heimbach,
Citizens
for Fire Babies
In his testimony
last
year,
Heimbach
stated
the
baby
was
in
a
crib
fire-remost
exposed
the w
candles starting deadly blazes and
Safety’s star witness, did just that.
ge 21
levels of PBDE flame
furnitu
the lack
flamebody
retardants
With Citizens
for Fire Safety’s Highpillow.
tardant mattressGillham
and
on a non-retardant
The upper half
ofofher
was—
cancer
watching from the audi- retardants in breast milk account details that aided the chemical
infants’ large daily dose. For
afety.
lems.
industry’s position.
burned, he said. ence, Heimbach not only passion- for
others,
ingestion
of
contaminated
Mea
Nancy’s mother, who asked that
ately described the fatal burns a
vid Heimbach
dustcrib
is the chief
source
of resting
But public records
show
there
—
she
was
bed
and
ways t
her on
namea not
be —
used,
said no
she
7-week-old
Alaska
patientwas
re- no
alifornia Senate
uphols
never granted Heimbach permisceived lying on a pillow that exposure.
g last year, the pillow. And, Makela
retardants
pattern
of
her
burns.
fire-re
to use her
daughter’s
photolackedsaid,
flame flame
retardants,
he also Totalplayed
daily doseno role in thesion
been higher for
The
graph.
blamed the 2010 blaze on a candle. Nanograms (billionths of a gram)
anufacturers.
Fire authorities,
Heimbach
said,
“may
know
more
about
it
than
I
do,
but
that
was
group,
“Nancy’s memory is sacred to
In fact, he specifically said the of PBDE per kilogram of body
ators were concomm
us,” she said. “My daughter
de- may be
baby’s mother had placed a candle weight, per day
Fire-resistant
barriers
m
I had.”
aul of the state’s the information that
are “a
serves respect. She lived such a
in the girl’s
crib.
Adults
7.1
fires on
short time andreduce
she sufferedchemical
a lot.
Heimbach had told similar stoulation — one
effective,
expos
Heimbach said
he couldn’t recall who gave him that information
but that
Citizens
For
This is horrible.”
ries before, the Tribune found. In Ages 12-19 8.3
believed would
on the
Heimbach
was
head of
Harbor2009,
he help
told a California
State
ce the amount of for Fire Safety did
not
craft
his
statements.
He
said
the
group
has
paid
for
his
Ages 6-11
13.0
Califor
burn center for 25 years; he
Assembly committee that he had
Byview’s
Michael
Hawthorne
in American
furnitu
also a
was
a professor
of surgery at
treated
a 9-week-old
girl
whotime,
died though
47.2
Ages 1-5
travel to testify and
for
some
of
his
he
would
not
give
dollar
amount.
Tribune
reporter of Washington unstanda
the University
that spring after a candle beside
PHOTO PROVIDED
BY FAMILY
141.0
allow manufacAlbe
til the
his retirement
last year.
He
her
crib
turned over. “Wehe
hadsaid,
to Infants
The
details
of
his
statements,
weren’t
as
important
as
principle.
“The
The
chemical
industry’s
e the existing
of say
flam
estimated
he might
have leading
saved trade group
split open her fingers because they
“hundreds
ifchemicals
not
of
were so
charred,”
he testified.
is that
fire
retardants
will
retard
fires and will prevent
burns,”
hethousands”
said.to furniture
fire-snuffing
foam inciden
“can
est or a new one principle
“Nancy’s
memory
is
sacred
to
us.
death
lives. In 2009,
the Dalai
Lamadeath.”
gave
In 2010, he told Alaska lawmakdifference
between
life and
ring cigarette, a
Later,
Heimbach
said
through
his
attorney
that
federal
rules
prohibit
him
from
home
Heimbach
an
award
for
his
care
of
ers
about
a
6-week-old
girl
from
cords,”
said
Mike
Makela,
an
But
when
scientists
in
a
government
lab
touched
n source of fires
My daughterWashington
deserves
respect. She lived
burntovictims
around
the world. chairs — onesignifi
state who died that investigator for the Snohomishflame
a
pair
of
upholstered
with
Manufacturers disclosing information
that
would
identify
a
patient.
He
said
that
when
describing
adopte
“I’m a well-meaning guy,”
afterand
a dog knocked
a candle County
fire marshal’s office.
such a short year
time
she suffered
a lot.
in the
foam
— both were
w test by using
Bute
Heimbach
said.
“I’mand
notone
in without
the
onto her crib, which did not have a
In his testimony last year,retardant
he follows
protocol
the
rules
by
“de-identifywithin
four minutes.
ather than add- particular burn cases,
expert
pocket of
industry.”
flame retardant
mattress. standard
Heimbach
stated theunder
baby was in
ain flames
This is horrible.”
did not
find flame
retardants
in foam to
proa
als to the foam
rates
When
Heimbach
testified
last
Heimbach’s hospital in Seattle, crib on a fire-retardant mattress “We
ing” patients — that
is, changing
or omitting
to
protect
their
detectw
spring in protection,”
California
on the
billDale
that Ray, a top official
Harborview
Medical Center,
de- and onidentifying
a non-retardantinformation
pillow.significant
said
— Mother of Nancy Garcia-Diaz,
above,
a 6-week-old
girl who
redu
could have
significantly
clined to help the
Tribune
confirm The
upperdied
half of her body wasConsumer
Product
Safetyreduced
Commission whoinover
e status quo — privacy.
in 2009 after a househis
fire
in ruralBut
Washington
flame
retardant
use, he didn’t
tell Washington.age.
accounts.
records from the burned, he said.
2009
tests
at a laboratory
outside
the bottom line
Fedf
lawmakers
he was
altering
facts from both chair
King County
medical
examiner’s Heimbach
But public records
But in testimony
at state
hearings,
not show
onlythere
changed
facts,
he
added
Moreover,
the
amount
of smoke
ers needed to
wrestl
office show that no child matching was no crib — she was resting on a about the burn victim. Only when
similar,
Ray
noting
thatreveal
most fire victimsfirepro
die o
arted by candles
bed — and
pillow. And, Makela
asked
by asaid,
senator
did he
Heimbach’s descriptions
died such
newhasones,
asnocandles
starting
deadly
blazes
and
not the
flames.
eat.
said, flame retardants played noinhalation,
safety
that Citizens
for Fire
Safety paid
in his hospital in the last 16 years.
The
previously
test results callthe
intobeq
facts,
he
added
ones,
such
as of her burns.— details
izens for Fire Babies most exposed
in the
pattern
for his
tripthat
there. undisclosed
The only infant
who
came
closenew
the
lack
ofrole
flame
retardants
aided the
Fire
authorities,
Heimbachthe widespread
uphols
of vote,
flame
ho
When it came use
time to
the retardants in
in terms of age candles
and datestarting
of deathdeadly
blazes
and
ss, did just that.
industry’s
position.
said,
“may know
cigaret
senators Some
overwhelmingly
sided
was Nancy Garcia-Diaz,
of those chemicals
have been
li
thechemical
lacka 6-weekof flame
retardants
— more about itfurniture.
or Fire Safety’s High levels of PBDE flame
do, but that was thecancer,
tics sh
with Heimbach
and Citizens
forand developmenta
oldaccount
who died in details
2009 after
a house
neurological
disorders
that
aidedthan
the Ichemical
from the audi- retardants in breast milk
Nancy’s
mother,
who
asked
that
her
name
not
be
cause o
Fire Safety, sticking with the
fire inFor
rural Washington.
lems.
industry’s position.information that I had.”
ot only passion- for infants’ large daily dose.
Heimbach said he couldn’t re- furniture standard based on a
Tha
In an interview, Heimbach said
Meanwhile,
research
is
finding
there
are
more
Nancy’s
mother,
who
asked
that
he fatal burns a others, ingestion of contaminated
never
granted
Heimbach
to
call who
gave him
that informato be e
candle-likepermission
flame.
his
anecdotes wereused,
all aboutsaid
the she
dust
is
the
chief
source
of
to prevent
fires
d
herwho
name
used,but
said
ka patient rethatshe
Citizens for Fireways Public
Califor
healthfurniture
advocates
had— using specially
same baby — one
died not
at hisbe tion
use
her
daughter’s
photograph.
thatSenators
resistshad
smoldering
cigarettes
oro
never
granted
Heimbach
permisa pillow that exposure.
Safety did
not help craft hisupholstery
Most
one last hope:
seven
hospital, though
he
didn’t
know
barriers
underneath
statements.
He said
group hasfire-resistant
sion
to “Nancy’s
usetoher
photordants, he also Total daily dose
in which
they
could
change the fabric. alread
the child’s name.
Contrary
hisdaughter’s
memory
isthesacred
todays
us,”
she
said.
“My
that co
their votes.
As theChemistry
advocates tried
said he had not paid for his travel to testify and for The
a gram) he graph.
American
Council, the industr
laze on a candle. Nanograms (billionths oftestimony,
some
his time,
wouldgroup,
smolde
to persuade
senators
tospecific
recon- questions about
taken care of the patient.
declined
toshort
answer
th
“Nancy’s
memory
is of
sacred
tothough heShe
ifically said the of PBDE per kilogram of body
daughter
deserves
respect.
lived
such
a
time
give a dollar
furnitu
sider, Citizens
for Firebut
Safety
putemail said flame
Told about Nancy,
Heimbach
commission’s
research
in an
re
us,” she
said. “Mynot
daughter
de-amount.
placed a candle weight, per day
The details
of hisThis
statements,
he out a news alert that linked to a
startin
said she was probably
the she
baby he
and
suffered
a lot.
is horrible.”
“a key
component
in reducing the devastating
serves
respect.
lived
such
Adults
7.1
said,
weren’t
asaimportant as thearevideo
thereim
i
called
“Killer Couches!”
had in mind and
emailed
a Trib-She
fires
on
people,
property
and
the
environment.”
short
time
and
she
suffered
a
lot.
told similar sto“The
principle
is Harborview’s
that
flame
To the sounds burn
of sinistercenmusic
une reporter two photographs
of a principle.
Heimbach
was
head
of
furniture
manufacturers
havefoam
been
horrible.”
ibune found. In Ages 12-19 8.3
u
and decades,
crackling flames,
a sofa
made
severely burnedThis
child,isimages
that fire retardants will retard fires and For
on without
the chemicals
to meet
aat
flammability standa
Heimbach
was head
of HarborCalifornia State
will prevent
burns,”
hewas
said. a professor
ter
for
25
years;
he
also
of
surgery
Test
flame
retardants
became
he said he had used
in a presenta13.0
Heimbach
an inferno.
Then these
words
tion at a medical
adopted
in 1975.
Much of thesugges
uph
view’sconference.
burn center forLater,
25 years;
he said throughCalifornia
tee that he had Ages 6-11
of Washington
until
hissold
retirement
hisofattorney
that
furnitu
appeared:
“Arenationwide
You Sitting last
Comand
Nancy’s
furniture
is built to comply
w
alsothe
was University
a professor
surgery
at federal rules
ld girl who died Ages 1-5
47.2Medical records
prohibit himunfrom disclosing in-standard.
sharp d
fortably?”
mother confirmed
those
pictures
theyear.
University
of
Washington
a candle beside
He estimated
he might have saved
“hundreds
if
are co
No senators
were141.0
indeed of Nancy.
Corp.,changed
one of thetheir
world’s largest manuf
til his retirement formation
last year.that
Hewould identify a Albemarle
ver. “We had to Infants
addres
But
Nancy didn’t die in a fire patient. He said that when de- votes, and the bill was dead. The
TRIBUNE
not
thousands”
lives.burn
Incases,
2009,
Dalai
Lama
gave
flame
retardants,
said
in
a written statement
estimated
he might
haveof
saved
ers because they SOURCE: EPA
scribing
particular
heof the
In tt
chemical
companies
had
won
caused by a candle,
as Heimbach
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FAMILY
Testing shows
treated foam
offers no real
safety benefit
about
babies
dd up
he testified.
Alaska lawmakek-old girl from
who died that
nocked a candle
ch did not have a
attress.
spital in Seattle,
SOURCE: EPA
TRIBUNE
not follows
thousands”
of protocol underincidence
standard
again. of damage, injury and
has repeatedly “hundreds
testified. Fireif reIn 2009,
the Dalai
Lama
the rules
bygave
“de-identifying” pa-death caused by fires related to
cords obtainedlives.
by the
Tribune
— care
thatofis, changing orhome
Tribune
reporter has
Michael
Hawshow thean
blazeHeimbach
was caused an
by award
an tients
furnishings
decreased
for his
cords,” said Mike Makela,
omitting
identifying informationsignificantly”
thorne contributed
to this
report.
overloaded, overheated
extension
since
California
burn victims
around
the world.
investigator for the Snohomish
to protect their
privacy.
cord.
adopted its furniture rule.
“I’m a well-meaning
guy,”
County fire marshal’s office.
in testimony at state hear- [email protected]
“There were no
candles, nosaid.
pets “I’mBut
But Ray and other government
Heimbach
not
in
the
In his testimony —
last
year,
just the misuse of extension ings, Heimbach not only changed [email protected]
Heimbach stated the baby was in a
crib on a fire-retardant mattress
pocket of industry.”
When Heimbach testified last
experts say declining smoking
rates and increased use of smoke
other
polyes
minute
interve
floral-p
Sim
Labora
wrapp
was m
“There
wasn’t a
clined to help the Tribune confirm The upper half of her body was could have significantly reduced
flame retardant use, he didn’t tell
his accounts. But records from the burned, he said.
King County medical examiner’s
But public records show there lawmakers he was altering facts
office show that no child matching was no crib — she was resting on a about the burn victim. Only when
Heimbach’s descriptions has died bed — and no pillow. And, Makela asked by a senator did he reveal
said, flame retardants played no that Citizens for Fire Safety paid
in his hospital in the last 16 years.
for his trip there.
The only infant who came close role in the pattern of her burns.
Heimbach
anand
award
his careFire
of burn
victimsHeimbach
around the When
world.
authorities,
it came time to vote, the
in terms of age
date offor
death
“may know
senators
overwhelmingly
was“I’m
NancyaGarcia-Diaz,
a 6-weekwell-meaning
guy,” said,
Heimbach
said.more
“I’mabout
not itin the
pocket
of industry.”sided
old who died in 2009 after a house than I do, but that was the with Heimbach and Citizens for
Heimbach testifiedinformation
last springthat
inICalifornia
on the
that could
had.”
Firebill
Safety,
stickinghave
withsigthe
fireWhen
in rural Washington.
Heimbach
said
he
couldn’t
refurniture
standard
based
on
In
an
interview,
Heimbach
said
nificantly reduced flame retardant use, he didn’t tell lawmakers he was altering factsa
his anecdotes were all about the call who gave him that informa- candle-like flame.
about
the—burn
victim.
asked
a senator
did hePublic
revealhealth
that Citizens
tion but
that by
Citizens
for Fire
advocates for
had
same baby
one who
died atOnly
his when
Safety
did
not
help
craft
his
one
last
hope:
Senators
had
seven
hospital,
though
he
didn’t
know
Fire Safety paid for his trip there.
the child’s name. Contrary to his statements. He said the group has days in which they could change
When he
it came
vote,
the
with
Heimbach
paid
forsenators
his travel tooverwhelmingly
testify and for theirsided
votes. As
the advocates
tried
testimony,
said hetime
had to
not
some
of
his
time,
though
he
would
to
persuade
senators
to recontaken
care
of
the
patient.
and Citizens for Fire Safety, sticking with the furniture standard based on a candlesider, Citizens for Fire Safety put
Told about Nancy, Heimbach not give a dollar amount.
like
flame.
The details of his statements, he out a news alert that linked to a
said she
was probably the baby he
said, one
weren’t
important
as the had
videoseven
called “Killer
hadPublic
in mindhealth
and emailed
a Trib- had
advocates
lastas hope:
Senators
daysCouches!”
in which
To the sounds of sinister music
une reporter two photographs of a principle. “The principle is that
they
could
change
theirthat
votes.fire
Asretardants
the advocates
to persuade
senators
reconwill retardtried
fires and
and crackling
flames,to
a sofa
made
severely
burned
child, images
will
prevent
burns,”
he
said.
without
flame
retardants
became
he
said
he
had
used
in
a
presentasider, Citizens for Fire Safety put out a news alert that linked to a video called “Killer
Later, Heimbach said through an inferno. Then these words
tion at a medical conference.
Couches!”
Medical records and Nancy’s his attorney that federal rules appeared: “Are You Sitting Comprohibitand
himcrackling
from disclosing
in- a fortably?”
mother
confirmed
those
pictures music
To the
sounds
of sinister
flames,
sofa made without flame
formation that would identify a
No senators changed their
were indeed of Nancy.
retardants
ThenHethese
appeared:
“Are
Sitting
Comsaid words
that when
de- votes,
andYou
the bill
was dead.
The
But Nancy became
didn’t die an
in ainferno.
fire patient.
caused by a candle, as Heimbach scribing particular burn cases, he chemical companies had won
fortably?”
has repeatedly testified. Fire re- follows standard protocol under again.
Noobtained
senators
theirthe
votes,
the bill was dead.
rulesand
by “de-identifying”
pa- The chemical companies
cords
bychanged
the Tribune
showwon
the blaze
was caused by an tients — that is, changing or Tribune reporter Michael Hawhad
again.
overloaded, overheated extension omitting identifying information thorne contributed to this report.
to protect their privacy.
cord.
But in testimony
at state
[email protected]
“There
were
no
candles,
no
pets
Tribune reporter Michael Hawthorne
contributed
to hearthis report.
— just the misuse of extension ings, Heimbach not only changed [email protected]
More watchdog reports at chicagotribune.com
VIDEO
Watch Tribune reporters Patricia Callahan,
Sam Roe and Michael
Hawthorne describe
their investigation into
the campaign of deception that has helped put
flame retardants into
our homes and into our
bodies.
TRANSCRIPTS
Read side-by-side transcripts of inconsistent
testimony on babies’
deaths given by Dr.
David Heimbach at
three different government hearings — and
compare them with
documents on Nancy
Garcia-Diaz, a 6-weekold girl who died in
2009 after a house fire
in rural Washington.
in
a
w
fi
s
th
u
c
ti
c
to
C
M
a
th
s
fu
s
th
fl
fo
s
fu
s
a
a
o
p
m
in
fl
L
w
w
r
b
b
s
b
th
li
ty
fo
b
a
v
N
m
in
a
c
r
s
fi
u
to
ti
th
m
d
p
it
m
T
in the Los Angeles
Citizens for Fire
t group for the maketardant chemicals,
ornia bill that would
the widespread use
dants in products.
m Page 20
ding of Citizens for
ve that this support
groups is critical to
ess of the importance
and give a voice to
ant to speak out on
nt public issue,” Clary
en statement.
or Fire Safety is the
ng of industry groups
rung up on different
the last 15 years —
on health concerns,
wn restrictions and
xpand the market for
nts.
le, the Bromine Scivironmental Forum,
sels, may sound like a
tific body. But it was
d funded by four
nufacturers, includle, to influence the
t flame retardants
omine.
s global director of
cacy, Raymond Dawunt testimony before
state lawmakers in
e forum is “a group
generating science in
rominated flame re-
from Burson-Marobal public relations
ps run the organizabromine group is not
nyone because regusts and other stakewell-aware it reprey.
m also helps run the
Consumer Fire Safety
which is funded by a
tion of flame retard-
JORDAN SILVERMAN/PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE
“Citizens for Fire Safety did everything they could to portray
themselves as firefighters, as Vermont citizens for fire safety,
when it really wasn’t Vermont citizens for fire safety at all.”
— Matt Vinci, above, president of a Vermont firefighters union, who lobbied against a flame retardant
Types of flame retardants
Many flame retardants are made with bromine or chlorine, which slow fire’s combustive reaction
by taking the place of oxygen. However, tests have cast doubt on whether adding the chemicals to upholstered furniture is effective, and concerns over health risks have forced some products off the market.
CHEMICALS
Penta and octa
Polybrominated
diphenyl ethers,
or PBDEs
Deca
Also a PBDE
Chlorinated tris
Also known as
TDCCP
Firemaster 550
Brand name
HAZARDS
Build up rapidly in
breast milk and
human blood.
Hormone disruption,
developmental
problems, neurological deficits, impaired
fertility.
Persists in the
environment and
creates penta as it
breaks down.
Potential carcinogen,
neurological deficits.
Probable carcinogen,
neurological deficits.
Chemical’s brominated components
found in wildlife.
Levels increasing in
air around the Great
Lakes. Developmental problems
at high doses.
STATUS
Not in use.
After the European
Union voted in 2003 to
ban the chemicals,
U.S. makers pulled
them from the market.
Penta is still present in
older furniture, other
products containing
foam and recycled
carpet padding.
Being phased out.
Manufacturers
voluntarily agreed
to end production
by December 2013.
It is still present
in the casing of older
electronics and
in wire insulation,
textiles, automobiles
and airplanes.
Still in use.
Voluntarily removed
from children’s
sleepwear in late
1970s but still widely
used in furniture
foam. Also has been
found in baby
products containing
polyurethane foam.
Still in use.
Introduced in 2003
as a replacement
for penta. Identified
for “high priority”
review by U.S.
Environmental
Protection Agency.
SOURCES: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission,
National Research Council, peer-reviewed research.
ant manufacturers. The alliance’s
director, Bob Graham, said the
group’s aim is to improve firesafety standards for upholstered
furniture sold in Europe.
The group’s website taps into
the public’s fear of fire, touting an
“interactive burn test tool” that
allows visitors to choose a European country and watch a sofa
from that nation being torched.
Next to a photo of an easy chair
fully engulfed in flames, four
words stand out in large capital
letters: “ARE YOU SITTING
COMFORTABLY?”
TRIBUNE
‘A child crying’
The amount of flame retardants
in a typical American home isn’t
measured in parts per billion or
parts per million. It’s measured in
ounces and pounds.
A large couch can have up to 2
come the most cr
ground in recent y
vocates trying to redu
lence of these chemic
can homes.
Citizens for Fire
successfully fought
powerful, and surp
making flame retard
issue.
The group and w
ties to it have argued
erished, minority ch
burn to death if flam
were removed from
products.
In 2009, for instan
of the California Sta
were considering a b
have made it unnece
flame retardants to
products by excludin
the state’s flammab
tion.
Up to the microph
Zyra McCloud, an Af
can community acti
glewood, Calif.
McCloud was pr
community group th
zens for Fire Safety
on its website and inc
of McCloud with
executive director.
disclose this conne
assembly, nor was sh
In a news release
Fire Safety already
McCloud saying th
children, who cons
proportionate share
would bear the b
“ill-conceived and u
tion.”
At the hearing, th
chairwoman told bo
were out of time for t
McCloud pleaded
allow two elementar
dents from her distr
lawmakers.
“We have spent
long with the kids t
family members and
have died in fires,
praying and appealin
you would at least a
boys to speak,” she sa
One of the boys, a
read from a statemen
“I just want you
child crying for help
building, dying, whe
person who only ha
save their life,” he sai
Citizens for Fire
vailed. The bill later w
defeat.
McCloud told t
“I’ve always been a
fought against thing
hurt children.” She t
questions in writin
answered them.
Nearly two years
failed, one of the nati
surgeons would als
image of a dead
California lawmaker
Please turn to Next P