When California passed a bill in 2014 requiring labeling on upholstered furniture that contained toxic flame retardant chemicals, it was touted as a big win for human health and the environment. And it was no doubt especially meaningful to epidemiologist Brenda Ezkenazi of the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health.

"Our work contributed heavily into new laws that were put into effect by our governor to restrict the use of these chemicals in the foam of our couches, in electronic products."

Eskenazi and her colleagues collected data from a study they began in 1999, which followed 600 mothers and their children to measure the impact on health from pesticides, chemicals in plastics and flame retardants.

"We’ve collected about a 150 thousand biological samples in this cohort and measured many different things in those samples. The relationship of flame retardants with neurodevelopment, relationships to fertility and many other health outcomes. So, our work has direct policy implications."