AUGUSTA – The Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted Wednesday to recommend passage of a bill ending the sale of furniture containing fire retardant chemicals.

The bipartisan vote on LD 182 was 11-1 with one member still to vote. The measure's sponsor, Rep. Walter Kumiega, D-Deer Isle, said he was energized by the vote and its potential positive implications for public health.

"I want to thank my colleagues, the Professional Firefighters of Maine and the Prevent Harm Coalition for their strong support of this bill," said Kumiega, in a release. "With this strong bipartisan vote, we are saying no to chemicals that contribute to higher rates of cancer, learning disabilities, asthma and reproductive harm. I hope the momentum continues and this bill gets signed into law."

Flame retardant chemicals have not been shown to be effective at preventing or slowing down house fires. Instead, the chemicals make house fires more hazardous to firefighters and anyone else caught in the fire.

During the bill's public hearing, firefighters, scientists and medical professionals all testified in support of the measure.

A tri-partisan group of lawmakers also spoke in support, including Kumiega, Sen. Paul Davis, R-Piscataquis; Sen. Dana Dow, R-Lincoln; Rep. Kevin Battle, U-South Portland; Rep. Paul Stearns, R-Guilford; and Rep. Tim Theriault, R-China.

Davis, Battle and Theriault have all served as first responders.

Currently 8,000 career and volunteer firefighters are active in Maine.

Gerry Gay, a Sanford firefighter representing the Professional Firefighters of Maine, said his organization was in strong support of the bill.

"In 2016, 190 firefighters died in the line of duty. More than half of those deaths were from occupational-related cancer," said Gay. "We know that not every flame retardant chemical has proven to be a carcinogen or toxic in some other way. But we don't want to keep repeating the pattern of banning a few of those chemicals, only to see them replaced by other chemicals that we find out much later are just as harmful."

Emma Halas-O'Connor of the public health and safety advocacy group, Prevent Harm, told committee members at the hearing that chemical manufacturing companies make new, almost identical substitute chemicals faster than federal regulators are able to assess their safety. She encouraged Maine to act rather than wait potentially decades until the federal backlog is cleared while more and more people are exposed to cancer-causing fumes and dust.

"We can close the toxic chapter of flame retardant chemicals in residential furniture once and for all," said Halas-O'Connor. "Let's not wait around."

Other groups supporting the legislation include the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Lung Association and the Silent Spring Institute.

The bill now faces votes in both the full House and Senate.

Kumiega is serving his fourth term in the Maine House and represents the Cranberry Isles, Deer Isle, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, North Haven, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Swan's Island, Tremont, Vinalhaven and Marshall Island Township.