"
the halogen-atom contain compound in question (e.g. BVO and NaCl) are completely different from the red herrings (flame retardant for the former" it's still bromine, though.. most science thinks it's probably not good for you..
http://www.scientificamerican.com/...loudy-health-history "In 1970, scientists in England
found that rats on a six-week diet containing 0.8 percent brominated maize oil had stockpiles of bromine in their fat tissue. The bromine stayed there even after the rats returned to a control diet for two weeks.
Around the same time,
a study confirmed that bromine was building up in humans. Researchers measured the serum levels of people in the United Kingdom—where BVO was in use—and in their counterparts in the Netherlands and Germany, where BVO was not used. The largest amounts of lipid-bound bromine were found in tissues from children in the UK, according to the study."
There are plenty of other studies cited in that link.
The FDA hasn't looked at BVO in a couple of decades. Its 'generally accepted safe' designation was based on short-term studies only, and those done in the 60s.
Since then Europe has banned the BVO additives and replaced them with safer alternatives. Here in the land of the profit margin, it's too expensive say the manufacturers. so it goes..