Brominated Flame Retardants (or BFR’s) anre exteremely stable and persistent chemicals and they have been found in human blood, body fat and breast milk.
As the name implies they are chemicals added to materials to make them flame resistant and are a family of approximately 70 different compounds.
This image was kindly reproduced according to the licence at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hexabromocyclododecane.svg
They enter the body by absorption through the skin or lungs and are stored in fat.
There is limited understanding of how BFR’s affect human health but it is believed that they can lead to liver, thyroid and skin damage.
Click here to read more on BFR’s.