Flame Retardant Chemicals in Baby Products

In a paper published on line on May 18, 2011 in Environmental Science & Technology, Heather Stapleton and colleagues found that 80% of baby products tested contained toxic or untested flame retardant chemicals. Foam from 100 changing table pads, nursing pillows, car seats, and other baby products were tested. Here are a few of the findings:

• 36% of the baby products contained the same cancer-causing Tris removed from baby pajamas in 1977
• Levels of Tris were up to 12% of the weight of the foam
• 79% of the products contained toxic or untested flame retardants
• some baby products contained three different flame retardants
• Two new flame retardants were identified
• The chemicals are semI-volatile and migrate from products to dust to children. Recent studies have show toddlers have four times the level of their moms
• California Latino children who have emigrated here have seven times the flame retardant level compared to children from the same village who are still in Mexico
• Black girls have higher levels than Latina girls who have higher levels than white girls in one study
• The chemicals are associated with adverse neurological and reproductive health effects in hundreds of animal studies and currently a handful of human studies.
• These baby products do not pose a fire hazard
• There is no data to show increased fire safety from using flame retardants to meet the California flammability standard

The TB117 standard, that has led to the use of these chemicals, tests bare foam’s resistance to a small flame. But the foam in furniture lies beneath a layer of fabric. The fabric will ignite first and by the time the flame reaches the foam, it is too large for the chemicals that meet TB117 to have an effect.

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