Scientific American article looks at furniture FR debate

Critics say chemicals could be harmful, ineffective

Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, April 18, 2011

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California senator has prepared legislation that could drastically lower the amount of flame retardant used in foam for upholstered furniture, according to an analysis in the publication Scientific American.

State Sen. Mark Leno and other proponents of the bill claim that the additives that bring foam into compliance with California's FR regulation, TB 117, pose environmental and health issue.

TB 117 requires that foam withstand open flame ignition for 12 seconds. Manufacturers say that chemical retardants are the most cost-effective way to comply with state regulations.

Critics want an alternative to the chemical retardants, which they say aren't effective enough to stop fires once they're ignited and allow dangerous chemicals to leach into humans and the environment.

The issue of fire retardants in upholstery foam and other products surfaces on a regular basis here, fueled by research conducted by institutions like the University of California at Berkeley, which compared 264 Mexican-American seven-year-old children born and raised in the state to 283 children born and raised in Mexico from their mothers had immigrated.

The study found that the California children on average had seven times higher levels of PBDEs - which are in certain flame retardant chemicals - than did the Mexican children.

Leno's bill calls for an alternative flammability standard to the decades-old TB 117 that can be met without the use of chemical retardants that does not compromise fire safety.