Proposed Bill Would Require Mfrs. to Label Furniture Containing Flame Retardant Chemicals

Proposed California bill SB-1019 would, if passed, require manufacturers to label whether or not their furniture products contain flame retardant chemicals.

California Technical Bulletin TB-117 (now revised to TB-117-2013) requires upholstered furniture to pass a flammability test for fire safety purposes.  If the furniture complies, then it is affixed with a label asserting that the product is in compliance with TB-117.  SB-1019 would require furniture manufacturers to add something else to that label: whether or not the product contains chemical flame retardants, many of which are listed pursuant to Proposition 65 among those chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm or birth defects.

These toxic additive flame retardants are prevalent in furniture and other consumer products found in our home and office environments , and have, in recent years, come under fire from consumers and consumer watch dog groups as  a public health concern.  These concerns led to the revision of TB-117 to establish a different flammability standard in the hopes of reducing the use of these harmful chemicals in our furniture while still maintaining fire safety standards.

SB-1019 has passed the Senate and is now in Assembly.

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.