HATTIESBURG, Miss. - A Mississippi high school student is petitioning Gatorade to remove brominted vegetable oil (BVO) from its sports drinks, an additive patented by chemical companies as a flame retardant. 

The petition, started by 16-year-old Sarah Kavanagh on Change.org, has gathered 170,000 online signatures, the website said. Kavanagh cites an article from The Scientific American in her petition, which discusses studies linking BVO to several health risks. The chemical is not allowed to be sold in the European Union.

"I like to think of myself as a health person and am by no means a scientist, but it seems pretty risky that Gatorade is using a chemical in sports drinks in America that is banned in Europe because of health concerns," Kavanagh said.

The petition asks for signatures on the following letter:

Dear Gatorade,

You put slick ads on TV encouraging people like me to buy your products, but it’s shocking that you have a flame retardant chemical called ‘brominated vegetable oil’ in some flavors. Please stop deceiving consumers and remove this chemical from your products.

We know you can do better than this! We look forward to hearing an update.

The petition can be found here.