WHEREAS, consumer product manufacturers commonly add flame-retardant chemicals to plastics and other flammable materials to reduce the risk of fire and one of the most common flame-retardant chemicals is brominated flame retardant; and

WHEREAS, brominated flame retardants are chemicals that reduce the spread of fire in a variety of common products such as electronic casings, polyurethane foam, and commercial textiles; and

WHEREAS, the most studied of these flame retardants are polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, and although useful as a flame retardant, PBDEs escape into the environment during the manufacture, use, and disposal of products containing this chemical; and

WHEREAS, three different mixtures of PBDEs are commercially available; pentaBDEs, octaBDEs, and decaBDEs; and

WHEREAS, pentaBDEs are mainly used as an additive in polyurethane foams that are widely used in upholstered products ranging from home furniture to seats in airplanes and automobiles; and

WHEREAS, some components are resistant to biodegradation and persist in the environment and these components of the pentaBDE product are insoluble in water and concentrate in the fatty tissue of living organisms; and

WHEREAS, octaBDEs are primarily used as an additive to acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, a plastic used in housings for office and medical electronics, interior and exterior trim on automobiles, telephone handsets, and other products; and

WHEREAS, the octaBDE product shares similar properties with the pentaBDE and accumulates in living organisms as well; and

WHEREAS decaBDEs are mainly added to high-impact polystyrene plastic, including housings for televisions, computers, stereos, and other products such as plastic furniture and toys, and escapes into the environment because it is not chemically bound to the materials in which it is used; and

WHEREAS, although industry scientists assert that the chemicals found in the decaBDE product are too large to be efficiently taken up by living organisms, some evidence is turning up that decaBDE has been found in the tissue of living organisms in Europe; and

WHEREAS, disturbingly, recent U.S. studies show the presence of PBDEs in human breast milk at an average level seventy-five times higher than those found in European women, and were the highest worldwide recorded levels of PBDE in human tissue to date; and

WHEREAS, in response to the release of these studies, a director from the Environmental Protection Agency stated that "levels of PBDE's are doubling in humans every two to five years", showing the pervasiveness and growth of a relatively unknown contaminant; and

WHEREAS, substantial public and private efforts to eliminate brominated flame retardants have made numerous alternatives available that are safe to human health and compliant with the strictest of fire safety standards; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the House of Representatives requests the department of health to conduct a study on the establishment of rules relating to the regulation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers for the purposes of enforcing chapter 332D, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health propose appropriate civil penalties for violations and repeat violators relating to 332D, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health provide the Legislature with the best regulatory options relating to 332D, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature, including any necessary implementing legislation, at least 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Department of Health.

Report Title:

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; rules and enforcement; study