A new study by an international team of scientists and civil society experts published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Emerging Contaminants shows that free-range eggs from five continents contain some of the world’s highest levels of highly toxic chemicals, including substances banned globally and others under consideration for global regulations. Brominated flame retardants and brominated dioxins, chemicals found in the eggs, are linked to serious health impacts, including endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, neurodevelopmental impairment, damage to the immune system, and cancer.
“Our results clearly demonstrate that brominated dioxins and flame retardants are a global threat to human health and the environment. The evidence is overwhelming – brominated and mixed brominated-chlorinated dioxins must urgently be listed under the Stockholm Convention, and the use of brominated flame retardants must be phased out, including recycling of waste containing these chemicals,” said lead author Jindrich Petrlik of Arnika and IPEN. The Stockholm Convention POPs Review Committee (POPRC) is meeting in Rome next Monday, September 29 through October 3 and will discuss the global risks from brominated dioxins.
The study findings reveal that eggs near e-waste sites, dumpsites, and waste incinerators are severely contaminated with brominated dioxins (PBDD/Fs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), making them a major source of human exposure to these toxic chemicals. Among the brominated flame retardants found by the study are polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), chemicals banned globally by the Stockholm Convention. These BFRs are common in plastic e-waste and released when plastic is burned in dumpsites or incinerators, resulting in environmental contamination that can be picked up by free-range chickens and transferred to their eggs.
