Over the last thirty years, a series of brominated and chlorinated chemicals used as fire retardants including PBBs, PCBs, and some PBDEs have been banned by the federal and state governments. After assurances of safety from the chemical industry, these brominated and chlorinated fire retardant chemicals have been found to accumulate in children, the general population, workers, and wildlife. They are known to cause mutations, cancer, neurological, and/or reproductive problems. Given the availability of safer alternatives, banning these classes of toxic chemicals, instead of continuing to substitute one toxin for another, is just plain common sense.