New research led by North Carolina State University has shown that early life exposure to a commonly used flame-retardant mixture increases anxiety and affects socioemotional behaviors in prairie voles, particularly in females. The work supports the hypothesis that chemical flame retardants can adversely affect neurological development and social behavior.
FireMaster 550 (FM550) is a flame-retardant mixture used in foam-based baby products and furniture. First identified nearly a decade ago, it was developed to replace PBDEs, a class of fire retardants being phased out because of safety concern
“There is concern that early life exposure to flame retardants is contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders,” says Heather Patisaul, professor of biology at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the work. “We decided to look at the effects of exposure on social and emotional behavior using a prairie vole model. Prairie voles are socially monogamous animals that partner for life and co-parent offspring. They are commonly used in neuroscience studies that address social behavior, and so were a good choice for this study.”
Read more at North Carolina State University
Image by LoggaWiggler from Pixabay