http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. This Christmas season, think twice about spending money on a commercial flame retardant for your Christmas tree. The good, old-fashioned method -keeping your tree in a container of fresh water -is probably all you need to keep your tree green and healthy. Researchers have determined that some flame retardants don't work on cut Christmas trees; in fact, in several cases the chemical retardants sped up the drying process and made trees more flammable. http://www.physorg.com/news148316369.html Biology Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:59:29 EST news148316369 In what may be an unintended consequence of efforts to make furniture safer and less flammable, residents of California have blood levels of potentially toxic flame retardants called PBDEs at levels nearly twice the national average, scientists from Massachusetts and California are reporting. Their study, the first to examine regional variations in PBDE levels in household dust and blood within the U.S., is scheduled for posting online Oct. 1 by ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. http://www.physorg.com/news142503073.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:11:13 EST news142503073