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'Flame retardants found in mums, kids'

One flame retardant is linked to cancer and was voluntarily taken out of children's pyjamas in the 1970s after researchers discovered it mutated DNA.

The other was touted as an eco-friendly chemical that would neither escape from household furniture nor show up in people.

Signs of both compounds turned up in mothers and children tested for a new study that shows how difficult it is for even the most diligent parents to avoid toxic chemicals added to furniture, toys, electronics and other household products.

All 48 mothers and children tested had a chemical in their urine that breaks down in the body from chlorinated tris, a flame retardant widely used in upholstered furniture, baby products and crib mattresses. Because the chemical wasn't formally banned after manufacturers took it out of children's sleepwear a generation ago, companies can add it to other products without informing government regulators or the public.

Researchers from Duke University and the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found that average levels of the chlorinated tris byproduct in the kids they tested were five times higher than those in their mums, likely because young children ingest contaminated dust while playing on the floor.

One child had levels 23 times higher than the mother, according to the study posted online Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The study also found that more than a quarter of the mothers and 70 per cent of the children tested had signs of another flame retardant known as Firemaster 550.

A 2012 Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that the US Environmental Protection Agency endorsed Firemaster 550 even though the agency's own scientists were deeply sceptical of its safety. Studies conducted by its manufacturer found that exposing rats to the flame retardant can lower birth weight, alter female genitalia and cause skeletal malformations such as fused ribs and vertebrae.

Independent scientists later found that small doses of Firemaster 550 administered to rats can trigger obesity, anxiety and other problems.