Life Sciences Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Health Risk Assessment for Flame Retardants (November 1999)

The National Research Council (NRC) was asked by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to perform a human health risk assessment of several chemicals under consideration for use as flame retardant treatment for furniture upholstery fabrics. As part of a large effort involving multiple contractors and numerous compounds, the NRC asked the Toxicology and Risk Analysis (TARA) Section of the Life Sciences Division to provide technical support and develop chemical hazard characterizations and risk assessments for two classes of compounds: tetrakis hydroxymethyl phosphonium salts, and organic phosphonates/cyclic phosphonate esters. The representative compounds selected by TARA staff for detailed analysis were tetrakis hydroxymethyl phosphonium chloride (THPC) and dimethyl hydrogen phosphite (DMHP). Based on an analysis of available data, a Reference Dose was developed for both compounds and a cancer slope factor was calculated for DMHP. TARA staff members Sylvia Milanez and Annetta Watson presented the results of their data analyses to the NRC Committee on Toxicology Subcommittee on Flame Retardant Chemicals on September 22at the Beckman Center, Irvine, California. These reports were finalized and provided to the NRC in October. (Funding: Work for Others, Project contact: Po-Yung Lu, 574-7587, lpy@ornl.gov)