Bill Introduced to Amend CPSIA to Ban Flame Retardants in Children’s Furniture

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) last month introduced a bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to include a ban on certain flame retardant chemicals from use in children’s furniture products.  The bill is H.R. 2934, also known as the “Decrease Unsafe Toxins Act.”

Flame retardants have been associated with cancer, endocrine disruption, developmental impairment, birth defects, and other health problems.  According to Congress’ findings, children in the U.S. have some of the highest levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in their bodies globally, and some toddlers even have three times the blood levels of their mothers of the toxic flame retardants pentaBDE.  “Studies show that there is no measurable fire safety benefit to California’s Furniture Flammability Standard Technical Bulletin (TB117),” the findings continue, and since children’s furniture contains small amounts of resilient filling material compared to their adult counterparts, they do not present a significant fuel source or fire hazard.

The bill proposes that any children’s cushioned product that contains more than 1,000 parts per million flame retardant chemical by weight in the filling shall be treated as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.  “Children’s cushioned products” shall be defined as a children’s product that contains resilient filling materials, such as high chairs, strollers, changing pads, bassinets, infant mattresses, etc. and that “flame retardant chemical” shall be defined as an organohalogen or organophosphorous compound.  That includes common chemical flame retardants such as PBDE, decaBDE, and TDCPP.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.