Good news for people who like functional brains: A flame retardant — that’s also a suspected neurotoxin and carcinogen — is going to be phased out soon.

That scary chemical is decabromodiphenyl ether, a.k.a. Deca, which a type of of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). PBDEs are flame-retardant chemicals used in many consumer goods, and Deca is especially known for its use in TV sets — and more alarmingly, in plastic pallets used to store some fruits and veggies.

In fact, earlier this year I wrote about Deca and other PBDEs getting into our food supply, whether via these pallets or through even less-trackable environmental leaching from factories, landfills, and worn out consumer goods! Worries over Deca apparently made enough alarms go off that Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) introduced the Decabromine Elimination and Control Act of 200 (H.R. 4394) — and that bill made enough alarms go off in the chemical industry that a Deca phase-out agreement was reached just two days later.

So now, Deca will be phased out, thanks to a voluntary agreement between three large chemical companies — Chemtura, Albemarle and ICL Industrial Products — and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Come December 2012, Deca will no longer be imported or used in U.S. consumer products. And in Dec. 2013, Deca will be officially fully banned.

How can you avoid exposing yourself to Deca? Avoiding Deca entirely seems pretty much impossible, since PBDEs — like many other persistent chemicals — have already deeply infiltrated our environment and our bodies. Californians have it especially bad. As the L.A. Times reports, the ironic side effect of having tough flammability standards for furniture has resulted in high levels of PBDE levels in Californians’ bodies:

In a study released last year, researchers found that Californians had twice as much of the flame-retardant chemical in their blood and as much as 10 times more of it in their homes than elsewhere in the country. Levels in California children were higher than those measured in their mothers.

Now we’ve got potentially cancer-causing, brain-damaging furniture — that are tough to burn up!

Since PBDEs bioaccumulate, eating less meat can help lower the amount of PDBEs you consume. Opting for local, fresh produce — thereby avoiding potential Deca-contamination from shipping pallets — could help too.

Chart of “Median PBDE Levels in Northwest Women” by Sightline Institute

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