Review

Fire safety standards, including the application of flame-retardant chemicals, have been estab-lished in modern societies to reduce deaths and injuries as well as economic impact of fires. Bromine, like other halogens, quenches free radicals generated in a fire with high efficiency, thereby preventing the propagation of a flame. In Europe and North America, brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are therefore com-monly used in household applications. BFRs were established as the major chemical flame retardant in the 1970s after the discovery of the adverse effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on human and environ mental health and in experimental studies (for reviews, see Fonnum and Mariussen 2009; Seegal 1996). BFRs are a structurally diverse group of chemi-cals, with polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) (Table 1) being among the formerly most highly produced BFRs (Bromine Science and Environmental Forum 2010). Although PBDEs are globally dispersed throughout the environment (reviewed by Law et al. 2008), human and environmental levels of PBDEs are approximately one order of magnitude higher in North America than in Europe and Asia (reviewed by Frederiksen et al. 2009). Humans are exposed to PBDEs in particular via air and ingestion of house dust, but also through intake of vegetable and ani-mal products (reviewed by Frederiksen et al. 2009). Because of their relatively high food intake, child-specific hand-to-mouth behav-ior, and frequent ground contact (resulting in the ingestion of house dust), children are exposed to larger amounts of PBDEs than are adults (Fischer et al. 2006; Toms et al. 2009). An additional source of exposure for young children is breast milk, in which especially lower brominated PBDEs have been detected (reviewed by Frederiksen et al. 2009). Prenatal exposure to PBDEs occurs through placental transfer [Gómara et al. 2007; Mazdai et al