“Only Nicaraguan children who lived and worked on hazardous waste sites had higher reported levels of PBDEs in their bodies than the California children.”

—BRENDA ESKENAZI, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who led a study that found higher levels of the flame retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, in Mexican-American children in California than in nearly any other group of children studied. PBDEs, which are associated with fertility and thyroid problems, may be found in upholstered furniture, carpet pads and mattresses, and the kids' exposure was due largely to household dust. [via HealthDay]