Chicago Tribune Series on Flame Retardants Under Fire

“Time to Extinguish Flame Retardant Hype,” by Angela Logomasini
Flame retardants are making headlines these days thanks to an “exposé” — more properly characterized as an unsubstantiated smear campaign — published as a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune this past spring. The effort has helped Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) build the case for his anti-chemical legislation, which he calls the “Safe Chemicals Act.” Supposedly, he and his journalist allies at the Chicago Tribune know better than anyone else — including scientists and engineers that produce these products — about what makes a chemical safe or dangerous. The Tribune reporters conducted a little bit of “research” and added some colorful interpretations of their “findings” to render the judgment that flame retardants — which have been used for decades to reduce fire risks and save lives — are public enemy number 1. But despite the Tribune‘s sloppily researched and ideologically … Read the full article on OpenMarket.org.