Albemarle Corp., which makes flame retardants such as deca-BDE, takes issue with the study linking the chemicals to hyperthyroidism in cats.

The company attributes the increased incidences of the disease to improved clinical awareness and testing for hyperthyroidism as well as longer life spans for cats.

It says extensive testing of deca-BDE in laboratory animals has not found a connection to hyperthyroidism. According to Albemarle, those studies included feeding deca-BDE to rats and mice for their entire lifetime in amounts up to 5 percent of their diet.

Albemarle also points out that flame retardants help prevent fires from starting and slow the rate of growth of fires that do start. It says a study by the University of Surrey in England estimated that flame retardants have been responsible for a 20 percent reduction in fire deaths in the United Kingdom in recent years. -- Karin Kapsidelis