Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Developmental Exposure to the Flame Retardant Mixture Firemaster 550 Compromises Adult Bone Integrity in Male but not Female Rats.

Authors: Macari, Soraia; Rock, Kylie D; Santos, Mariana S; Lima, Virgínia T M; Szawka, Raphael E; Moss, Jamal; Horman, Brian; Patisaul, Heather B

Published In Int J Mol Sci, (2020 Apr 07)

Abstract: Flame retardants (FRs) are used in a variety of common items from furniture to carpet to electronics to reduce flammability and combustion, but the potential toxicity of these compounds is raising health concerns globally. Organophosphate FRs (OPFRs) are becoming more prevalent as older, brominated FRs are phased out, but the toxicity of these compounds, and the FR mixtures that contain them, is poorly understood. Work in a variety of in vitro model systems has suggested that FRs may induce metabolic reprogramming such that bone density is compromised at the expense of increasing adiposity. To address this hypothesis, the present studies maternally exposed Wistar rat dams orally across gestation and lactation to 1000 µg daily of the FR mixture Firemaster 550 (FM 550) which contains a mixture of brominated FRs and OPFRs. At six months of age, the offspring of both sexes were examined for evidence of compromised bone composition. Bone density, composition, and marrow were all significantly affected, but only in males. The fact that the phenotype was observed months after exposure suggests that FM 550 altered some fundamental aspect of mesenchymal stem cell reprogramming. The severity of the phenotype and the human-relevance of the dose employed, affirm this is an adverse outcome meriting further exploration.

PubMed ID: 32272586 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Animals; Bone and Bones/drug effects*; Cellular Reprogramming/drug effects; Dust/analysis; Environmental Monitoring/methods; Female; Flame Retardants/adverse effects*; Halogenation/drug effects; Lactation/drug effects; Male; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/drug effects; Organophosphates/adverse effects*; Polybrominated Biphenyls/adverse effects*; Rats; Rats, Wistar

Back
to Top