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Medium Blog Articles
Flame Retardant Free Furniture Guide
In order to meet safety standards, flame retardants were added to household furniture as part of California Technical Bulletin (TB) 117 in 1975. This bill was passed in part because of pressures from the cigarette industry as cigarettes left on couches were causing fires. Recently, concerns over the health effects of these chemicals and the effectiveness of the chemical to suppress a fire have led to the update of TB 117 in 2014 and now manufactures are no longer required to use flame retardant chemicals in upholstery. Yay! Products still must meet fire suppression standards, but added chemicals are not required.
Significance and Importance of the Indoor Environment
Indoor air is important because it is directly related to human health.
“The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its Science Advisory Board (SAB) have ranked indoor air pollution among the top environmental risks to public health” (U.S. EPA, 1987a; U.S. EPA-SAB, 1990).
Because air is invisible and particles are impossible to detect with the human eye, the threat of poor air is often undermined. Energy savings can be calculated in kilowatts and dollars, but it is difficult to estimate healthcare costs and even more challenging to assign a monetary value to quality of life.
Should you worry about flame retardants in your furniture?
The Problem
In order to meet safety standards, flame retardants were added to household furniture as part of California Technical Bulletin (TB) 117 in 1975. This bill was passed in part because of pressures from the cigarette industry as cigarettes left on couches were causing fires. (Of course they shifted the blame to the furniture). Recent studies have shown that these flame retardants are harmful to human health. This is important because if we sleep for 8 hours per night (hopefully!), we will spend 1/3 of our lives on a mattress with pillows and even more time on couches and chairs. While flame retardants can be found in a variety of household products, this post will focus on furniture.