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Back in the 1970s, companies making children’s pajamas made a big mistake. They used a chemical known as brominated Tris to make the pajamas fire resistant—until the chemical was found to be carcinogenic and absorbed into children’s bodies. When the CPSC banned brominated Tris, some turned to a similar compound called chlorinated Tris—until it, too, was found to be mutagenic, making it potentially cancer-causing. Companies were then forced to remove that compound from pajamas as well.
Our new study, Hidden Hazards in the Nursery, shows that unfortunately, companies haven’t learned from this past mistake. Instead of making sure flame retardants used in baby and children’s products are safe, they have chosen a compound known to have toxic troubles: chlorinated Tris.
To find out what flame retardants are in baby and kids’ items, Washington Toxics Coalition worked with partners in five other states to purchase new items for testing. We chose items made with polyurethane foam that kids use every day: car seats, changing pads, nursing pillows and bassinet pads. We bought them from major retailers, including Babies R Us, Target, Walmart, and Sears.
Samples of the foam from each item were sent to Duke University for testing where they were analyzed for a suite of flame retardants.
Our results found toxic flame retardants in 85% of the products. And they weren’t present at parts per million concentrations—the compounds averaged 3.9% by weight in the foam. Since they are not chemically bound to the foam, they escape easily from children’s products and furniture to contaminate the air and dust in our homes, exposing everyone in a household to chemicals linked to cancer, nervous system harm, and hormone disruption.
Disturbingly, by far the most prevalent compound detected was chlorinated Tris, also known as TDCPP. Chlorinated Tris was present in 80% of the products, including changing pads, car seats, bassinet pads, a co-sleeper, and a nursing pillow.
A changing pad from Babies R Us had the highest concentration of flame retardants, with a total of 5.5% present in the foam by weight. The Arm’s Reach co-sleeper had five different flame retardants, for a total of 4.7%. The Graco Snugride car seat had the highest concentration of chlorinated Tris, with the chemical making up more than 5% of the weight of the foam.
Despite concerns that chlorinated Tris may lead to cancer, manufacturers decided to use the chemical when the toxic PBDE flame retardants were phased out during the last five years. Unfortunately, flame retardants present a perfect case study of how state and federal laws fail to protect human health by making it perfectly legal to swap one toxic chemical out for another, rather than switch to safer, non-toxic alternatives.
In the meantime, research has indicated that Tris can have a number of toxic effects. Laboratory studies have found that Tris causes kidney, liver, and testicular tumors, and a number of studies have found that Tris causes mutations, which are changes in DNA that can lead to cancer. Based on this evidence, the state of California designed Tris as a carcinogen under Proposition 65 in October of 2011. There is also evidence that Tris disrupts hormones and can damage brain cells.
These toxic chemicals aren’t needed to make products fire safe. A number of companies use alternate materials that don’t require chemical flame retardants to meet flammability standards. For example, Baby Bjorn, Orbit Baby and Boppy all report producing baby products without chemical flame retardants.
In Washington State, lawmakers this year have an opportunity to get companies off of this toxic treadmill of disregarding health and safety and simply switching from one toxic chemical to another. The legislature will consider the Toxic Free Kids Act, which will require companies to identify safer alternatives to toxic chemicals in children’s products. And, to take immediate action on the hazard of Tris flame retardants, it will ban chlorinated Tris and a related chemical from use in children’s products.
Legislatures in other states are considering a similar path, and rightly so. Tris flame retardants were a hazard in the 1970s, and they are a hazard now.
For a list of products tested, click here.
Tips to Protect Your Family From Toxic Flame Retardants
By being mindful with certain purchases, you can try to limit your family’s exposure to these dangerous chemicals and reduce your toxic body burden.
1. When shopping for furniture, look for companies who avoid chemical flame retardants and instead use naturally fire-resistant materials.
2. Avoid all products containing polyurethane foam with a label reading TB117, which means it has likely been treated with toxic flame retardants.
3. Buy nursing pillows, car seats, and baby carriers made without Tris – better brands for baby items include Baby Bjorn, Orbit Baby, and Boppy.
4. Because flame retardant chemicals accumulate in household dust, regularly use a wet mop to clean and remove dust particles and use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to clean your home. This will keep dust from being inhaled or ingested.
5. Wash hands, especially those of little children, often, to keep dust from attaching to food or fingers and being consumed.
6. Tell your legislators to support policies that will eliminate toxic flame retardants from consumer products, especially products intended for kids. Even the most conscientious consumer can’t avoid every toxic chemical— which is why we need policies that eliminate these chemicals once and for all.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy World.
Photo courtesy juhansonin / CC BY 2.0
Posted by Joanne on 01/13/2012 at 02:47 PM
I can’t believe that everything these days have so many fire retardants and off-gasing chemicals in PJs and mattresses/bedding. I found an organic baby store called Green Cradle in Sherman Oaks and none of their products, including their organic mattresses, have any fire retardant chemicals. It is such a relief that this organic store exists as it makes it so much easier to shop while being 8 months pregnant.
Peace,
Joanne
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