Dozens of Furniture Makers Settle over Chemicals— by Stephanie M. Lee at San Francisco Chronicle
Excerpted from full article at San Francisco Chronicle:
More than 30 furniture companies, including Ikea, J.C. Penney and Kmart, have agreed to settle for a total of $2.3 million in civil penalties after a Berkeley watchdog group alleged they sold furniture with high amounts of flame retardants in violation of California's Proposition 65.
The Chanler Group, a law firm that represents individuals suing businesses over Prop. 65, claimed that the 35 companies had been selling upholstered chairs, car seats and other foam-padded products in California without disclosing to consumers that they contained flame retardants in amounts that violated the state's consumer-safety law.
"We're very proud of our clients' work," said Cliff Chanler, founder of the Chanler Group, in a statement. "What they've done today is going to go a long way toward industry reform to remove these harmful chemicals from our homes and our bodies."