Please Join Us for a Free Webinar On

Please Join us for a Free Webinar on:

Promoting Safer Flame Retardants in Health Care

Learn about concerns with halogenated flame retardants and the availability of safer alternatives

 Date: December 10th, 2008; Time: 12:00-1:15 eastern

Sponsors: Health Care Without Harm, Global Health & Safety Initiative and Practice Greenhealth

Did you know that?  Women in the United States have some of the highest levels of fire retardant chemicals in their breast milk.  California, the only State in the US to have a flammability standard for foam furniture, has reported dust levels of toxic flame retardants (PBDE’s) ten times greater than dust from other states and 200 times more than in Europe.  In dozens of animal studies, halogenated fire retardants have been shown to harm reproduction and affect brain development. Studies are underway to determine if fire retardants are contributing to increases in autism, hyperactivity, birth defects, infertility, diabetes and obesity in humans.  Major consumer electronics firms are eliminating halogenated flame retardants in their products.  Kaiser Permanente, many GPOs (including Novation, Premier and Broadlane), the Global Health & Safety Initiative and Practice Greenhealth all have initiatives to promote and purchase the use of products with safer flame retardants.

The December webinar will answer questions about the concerns with halogenated flame retardants in products and what health care organizations can do to reduce their use. In this webinar participants will learn about:

 What are flame retardants  Why halogenated flame retardants are a problem  Where they are used in health care  The availability of safer alternatives  What companies are doing to avoid the use of halogenated flame retardants  What health care organizations can do to reduce their use

Speakers: Dr. Arlene Blum: Visiting Scholar, Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley and Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute; Dr. Mark Rossi, Research Director, Clean Production Action; Rachael Baker, Kaiser Permanente, Environmental Supply Chain Manager

To sign up: Please RSVP to Judy Levin at [email protected]