Take two minutes to invest in the future of public media by starting a recurring gift to Marketplace. 🎁 🔁 Donate Today!

Examining the toxic history of flame retardants

A look at how the flame retardant industry came to touch so many objects in our lives.
A fire-fighting air tanker drops fire retardant on the deadly 40,000-acre Esperanza Fire in the San Jacinto Mountains on Oct.28, 2006 west of Palm Springs near Banning, California. 
David McNew / Getty Images