Flame Retardants and the “Six Classes” of Harmful Chemicals: How Science Can Impact Policy
Co-Sponsored by Harvard NIEHS Center for Environmental Health Organics Core and NE-EDC* Seminar
April 10, 2015
Speaker: Arlene Blum, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar in Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute
As a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, in the late 1970s, Blum’s research contributed to the regulation of two cancer-causing chemicals used as flame retardants on children’s sleepwear. She was instrumental in recognizing that the same Tris her research had helped remove from children’s pajamas was back in California couches and baby products. In 2008 Blum co-founded the Green Science Policy Institute (GSP) with the goal of bringing scientific research results into policy decisions to protect human health and the environment from toxic chemicals. As executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, Blum and her team have led several successful national and international campaigns against the use of toxic chemicals, particularly halogenated flame retardants. Her articles about science policy have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, and Science magazine. For more information: www.arleneblum.com
*New England Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Researchers’ Consortium. The NE-EDC is an outreach activity of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core of the Harvard-NIEHS Center for Environmental Health. Sponsored by the Harvard-NIEHS Center Grant Organics Core (P30 ES000002) and the Hoffman Program on Chemicals and Health