Furniture
| Uses | Upholstered furniture, mattresses, mattress pads |
| Resources | Flame Retardants in Furniture – An overview of our research and policy advocacy around the organohalogen flame retardants found in the foam of upholstered furniture.
Flame Retardants in Furniture Foam: Benefits and Risks – Our peer-reviewed paper demonstrating that flame retardants added to furniture foam do not prevent ignition and do not reduce fire severity or provide increased escape time. The New California Furniture Flammability Standard TB117-2013: What Does it Mean? – A fact sheet for manufacturers about the new regulation for the flammability of upholstered furniture in California. Furniture without Added Flame Retardants – Buyer’s guide to finding furniture without added flame retardant chemicals. |
Children’s Products
| Uses | Car seats, infant mattresses, nursing pillows, changing table pads, baby carriers, mats, sleep positioners |
| Resources | Flame Retardants in Children’s Products – An overview of our research and policy advocacy around the organohalogen flame retardants found in the foam of products like nursing pillows, changing table pads, sleep positioners, and baby carriers.
Identification of Flame Retardants in Polyurethane Foam Collected from Baby Products – Our peer-reviewed study in collaboration with Duke University that detected toxic or inadequately tested flame retardant chemicals in the foam of 80% of tested baby products. (Press Release) |
Electronics
| Uses | Electronics casings (TVs, computers, printers, other audio and video equipment), wire and cable sheathings |
| Resources | The Case Against Candle Resistant Electronics Our white paper provides evidence against “candle standard” amendments for electronics that do not provide significant fire safety benefits but do present serious health and environmental risks.
The Case Against Candle Resistant TVs – Our white paper explains in detail the problems with candle standards for TVs that are based on a small, flawed study. The TV fire and flame retardant controversy: deconstructing the data – A feature article in Environment & Health explaining the flaws in the argument supporting candle standards for TVs. |
Building Materials
| Uses | Insulation, textiles, rebonded carpet padding, fabric blinds, paints and coatings |
| Resources | Flame Retardants in Building Insulation: A Case for Re-Evaluating Building Codes – Our interdisciplinary peer-reviewed paper provides an extensive review of fire science studies and concludes that flame retardants in building insulation do not provide a fire safety benefit for many applications. (Press Release)
Halogenated Flame Retardants & Foams Found in Buildings – A white paper by the U.S. Green Building Council of California’s Council of Experts. LEED Pilot Credit 54 – U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Program awards points for not using organohalogen flame retardants in buildings. Halogenated Flame Retardants and Board Insulation Chart – A chart of board insulation products that contain organohalogen flame retardants and those that do not. Safer Insulation Solution – Our project to improve building codes for foam plastic insulation. |