Your couch has a dirty little secret. So do your coziest loveseat, your favorite armchair and even your child’s mattress. In fact, anything in your home filled with polyurethane foam and purchased in the last 30 years is likely an offender and, according to some of the top researchers in the nation, most definitely a danger to your family’s health and the environment.
Thanks to Technical Bulletin 117 (TB117), a California-created regulation implemented in 1975, most Americans are sitting, sleeping and slouching on what is essentially toxic furniture. This fire safety standard mandates that all pieces of furniture sold within the state of California be treated with flame-retardant chemicals in order to pass a 12-second open-flame test. In practice, this means manufacturers dousing the innards of your furniture with up to two pounds of chemicals. As California is the most populated state in the union and a major market for furniture manufacturers, TB117 has become the de facto standard for nearly all furniture produced and sold nationwide.
Although touted as a necessary life-saving measure by its proponents, the use of hazardous flame-retardant chemicals in everyday products has come under fire in recent years. Banned from use in children’s pajamas more than 30 years ago, chlorinated Tris is just one of the flame retardants commonly found in household items. Studies have linked Tris and other frequently used chemicals such as PBDEs to cancer, neurological deficits, developmental delays and impaired fertility. “These can flake off and end up in dust,” says Dr. Arnold Schecter, a public health physician at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas. “Children put their hands in their mouths after crawling around on carpets and get a larger intake of these [chemicals] than adults.”
The average American baby, in fact, is born with the highest levels of flame retardants recorded among infants in the world.
If that isn’t scary enough, consider that many of these flame retardants have been found to be ineffective in their sole role – fighting fires. A 25-year-old study often cited by industry mouthpieces in support of flame retardants has been widely misconstrued and misrepresented, according to the study’s main author, Vytenis Babrauskas. Babrauskas was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying, “The industry has used this study in ways that are improper and untruthful.”
It’s no secret that health and environmental advocates believe the chemical industry is in need of major reform, starting with the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation practices. The EPA’s attempt at regulation, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), passed in 1976, was a well-intentioned step in the right direction but left much to be desired. Rife with flaws and riveted with holes that give chemical companies wiggle room, the TSCA allows chemical manufacturers to keep the ingredients in some chemicals secret and places the burden of proof on the government to establish actual harm in order to control or replace dangerous chemicals. Also, in the United States, only chemicals in food, drugs and pesticides are regulated before being released in the marketplace. That furniture cushion or diaper-changing pad? Free game.
If you’re scratching your head and wondering “Why?” you’re not alone. Environmental and health advocates have been writing to their representatives, asking for reform for years. Finally, it appears change is on the way. A pending update to California’s TB117, TB117-2013, is designed to improve fire safety and reduce hazardous chemicals by addressing the place where fires start – the outer fabric covering the cushions of our furniture – and by addressing the root cause of most fires, smoldering cigarettes. Dr. Schecter says it would be decades, however, before the implications are felt. “It doesn’t help with the large amount of PBDEs already out in the community,” he says. Indeed, our children may very well have children of their own by the time our homes and our belongings are flame-retardant free.
The proposed change hasn’t come without resistance. Chemical manufacturers argue that flame retardants are a necessary safety precaution. Bryan Goodman of the leading trade group for the industry, the American Chemistry Council, says that if passed, TB117-2013 will remove an important layer of protection and “come at a cost to public safety.” Flame retardants, he says, “can prevent fire from starting, and if a fire does occur, they slow down its spread and improve the opportunity for safe escape.”
Many doubt the sincerity of these sentiments; the flame-retardant industry is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, after all. “I think any manufacturer feels that he or she owes it to stockholders to see that they still get paid,” Dr. Schecter says. “They also don’t want bad publicity and lawsuits.”
The American Chemistry Council has been dealing with a firestorm of bad publicity since 2012. An award-winning Chicago Tribune investigative series called “Playing With Fire” uncovered questionable motives behind the establishment of TB117 some 37 years ago. As it turns out, big tobacco had a role in the deal. The series asserts that as cases of home fires increased (frequently caused by unattended cigarettes) the tobacco empire was put under a microscope and pressured to make changes. Rather than alter their product, tobacco lobbyists sought a scapegoat in flammable furniture. Suddenly, the focus shifted from the source of the fire to the items going up in flames. And so TB117 was born.
As critics and supporters await a decision, toxic furniture is rapidly becoming a concern and conversation piece for health-conscious families. Those lucky enough to own eco-friendly furniture can take a breath of nontoxic air. Viable options for chemical-free furniture do exist; the mark-up, however, is often substantial and not a viable choice for those on a budget. Vintage pieces are another possibility; anything manufactured before the mid-’70s is flame-retardant free.
For those stuck with what they’ve got, Dr. Schecter suggests looking into furniture covers and regulating dust with frequent vacuuming and hand washing. “Our knowledge is changing very rapidly,” Schecter says. “Most of us in the field knew 20 years ago that we should be concerned about flame retardants. There’s no cure-all. It’s going to be many decades before the flame retardants that are out there degrade in the environment and stop getting into people.”
