Products meant originally to increase escape time during residential fires have been associated with adverse health affects, and the Anchorage Assembly is working to ban them for good.
Flame retardant chemicals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, have been used since the 1970's in home furnishings, electronics, construction materials, and more. In the last decade or so, the National Institute of Environmental Health and Sciences has studied these chemicals because of their abundance in the environment and their impact on human health -- finding growing evidence that the chemicals affect the endocrine, immune, reproductive, and nervous systems. Some studies have shown long-term exposure can even lead to cancer.
For these reasons, the Anchorage Fire Department, Health Department, Assembly, and grassroots organizations are working to ban the sale and manufacture of the chemicals. AFD Fire Chief Jodie Hettrick remembers two prominent figures in the fire service family who are believed to have died after contracting cancer from long-term exposure to toxic gases while in the line of duty.