Flame Retardants

Flame retardants are added to products to meet flammability standards. They often don’t improve fire safety and can harm our health.

What are they?

Flame retardants are chemicals that are purported to slow ignition and prevent fires. They are used to meet flammability regulations. Flame retardants of concern include organohalogen and organophosphate chemicals such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and chlorinated tris (TDCPP).

Where are they found?

Flame retardants are used in vehicles, electronics, building materials, lithium-ion batteries, wire and cable, etc. Learn more about products that may contain flame retardants. They were commonly used in furniture and children’s products in North America to meet a flammability standard until it was updated in 2013.

What are the health concerns?

Some flame retardants are associated with lowered IQ and hyperactivity in children as well as cancer, hormone disruption, and decreased fertility in adults.

How are we exposed?

Flame retardants continually migrate out of products and into air and indoor dust which is ingested by people. Flame retardants have been detected in the bodies of nearly all people tested. Due to hand-to-mouth behavior and crawling, toddlers have the highest levels. Additionally, because of widespread environmental contamination, flame retardants are found in our food supply.

What are the environmental concerns?

Flame retardants are released from products into soil, rivers, and oceans where they are persistent pollutants and can bioaccumulate up food chains. These chemicals are found at particularly high levels in marine mammals and can be associated with adverse health effects in these and other species.

Should they be used?

The use of flame retardants in furniture, children’s products, electronics enclosures, and building materials provides limited fire safety benefit. For example, research shows they often delay ignition only a few seconds and can make a fire more toxic. Preventing ignition (e.g., using self-extinguishing cigarettes) and installing smoke detectors and sprinkler systems are more effective and healthier ways to prevent fires. When flame retardants are indeed necessary, manufacturers should develop more benign alternatives through materials innovation and green chemistry.

What Can You Do?

When buying upholstered furniture, look for a TB117-2013 label stating the item does not contain flame retardants.
Replace upholstered furniture with a TB117 label.
Furniture and children’s products filled with polyester or wool instead of foam are unlikely to contain added flame retardants.
To reduce indoor air and dust levels, wet mop, dust with a damp cloth, open windows, and use HEPA filters (especially when vacuuming).
Wash hands often, especially before eating or preparing food.
Avoid using rebonded carpet padding made from recycled or scrap polyurethane foam.
Tell manufacturers, retailers, and government agencies you want products without flame retardants.
Open your car windows at the beginning of a drive.

Resources

Notable Reports

Flame Retardant Exposure in Vehicles Is Influenced by Use in Seat Foam and Temperature -2024- Our joint study found that the air inside all personal vehicles is polluted with harmful flame retardants—including those known or suspected to cause cancer. Car manufacturers add these chemicals to seat foam and other materials to meet an outdated federal flammability standard with no proven fire-safety benefit. (Press Release)
Trends in Flame Retardant Levels in Upholstered Furniture and Children’s Consumer Products After Regulatory Action in California. -2024- A study from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control confirmed that flame retardants in consumer products substantially decreased after implementation of California’s updated furniture flammability standard.
Map: Wildlife Polluted by Flame Retardants on Massive Scale -2023- We mapped more than 150 species of wild animals across every continent that are contaminated with flame retardant chemicals. Polluted wildlife include killer whales, red pandas, chimpanzees and other endangered species. (Press Release)
Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants: Are They a Regrettable Substitution for Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers? -2019- Our review paper published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters on regrettable substitution of PBDEs with organophosphate ester flame retardants, which are increasingly being associated with multiple health and ecological harms.

Petition to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to Ban Consumer Products with Halogenated Flame Retardants -2015- This groundbreaking petition asks the CPSC ban four classes of consumer products containing organohalogen or organophosphate flame retardants. It was initiated by the Green Science Policy Institute in collaboration with Earthjustice and joined by 10 health and safety organizations. (Press Release)

The San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants -2010- The San Antonio Statement documents the scientific consensus about health, environmental and fire safety concerns associated with the use of organohalogen flame retardants. This consensus statement has over 200 signatories from 30 countries, representing expertise on health, environment and fire safety.

Reducing Flame Retardants in Building Insulation to Protect Public Health -2015- This policy statement by the American Public Health Association explains how all foam plastic building insulation in the United States contains problematic flame retardant chemicals, documents their lack of proven fire safety benefit, and recommends building code changes that would make the use of these chemicals unnecessary.