Flame-retardant chemicals are used in a wide variety of applications including textiles, carpets, home furnishings, plastics, paints, adhesives, and construction materials. Usage f o r all types of flameretardant chemicals was estimated to be 310 to 360 million pounds in 1977 [l]. Most of this (230 to 260 million pounds) went into carpets and consisted primarily of aluminum oxide (A1~03.3HzO); a smaller amount ( 3 to 4 million pounds) was used for textiles [ 1, 21. The present review will deal with this latter class of flame retardants.This choice is based upon the universality of textile chemical exposure as well a s upon our own experience with these chemicals and the need to organize the mass of recently acquired toxicological data in this area. Textile flame-retardant chemicals have been reviewed previously [l, 21 but with little emphasis on toxicology. Other reviews have discussed flame retardants used in plastics [3] , polybrominated biphenyl flame retardants [4], and flame retardants in general [5-71.

Tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (TRIS) was the most popular flame retardant chemical used in children's sleepwear. Acute toxicological data indicated that TRIS was low in toxicity. Since human exposure to TRIS-treated fabrics could occur for long periods of time, a subchronic study was undertaken to obtain additional information. The dermal application of TRIS (neat) at a dose of 1 ml/kg (2.27 g/kg) to the clipped backs of albino rabbits, once each week for 3 months, resulted in testicular atrophy and chronic interstitial nephritis in males. Females did not show any adverse effects.