Your sofa should have a label that indicates if there are flame retardants present. In less than a decade, Safer States and its partners have almost completely eliminated the use of toxic flame retardants in furniture and baby products. Working hand in hand with state legislatures, firefighters, manufacturers and the media, we have brought about a massive change in the market that has reduced our exposure to these deadly chemicals. Flame retardants are a class of chemicals that are added to furniture, electronics, and construction materials intended to help prevent fires.
Despite the claims of the chemical industry, many of them are unnecessary, don't work well and are poisonous. Flame retardants have been shown to cause neurological damage, hormonal disruptions and cancer. One of the biggest dangers of some flame retardants is that they bioaccumulate in humans and cause long-term chronic health problems, as the bodies contain ever higher levels of these toxic chemicals. Safer States is an alliance of diverse environmental health organizations and coalitions across the country committed to building a healthier world.
By harnessing local power, the alliance works to protect people and the planet from toxic chemicals and generates innovative solutions for a more sustainable future. Upholstered office furniture has long been considered a fire hazard. It is often made of wood and flammable foam padding that, when ignited, produces toxic fumes and flames that are difficult to extinguish. For this reason, in the mid-1970s, strict flammability standards were established that led to the widespread use of chemical flame retardants by furniture manufacturers.
Bradman says that these flame retardants leave furniture and reach the dust that covers floors and other surfaces. From there, you or your children can be exposed by inhaling them or by putting something in their mouth (fingers), a toy that has been in contact with dust particles coated with chemicals. As the name suggests, wood treated with fire retardants (FRTW) is wood that contains fireproof chemicals by infusion. Building your home with wood treated with fireproof material is the first method of protecting your home from fire with wood.
We offer many reclaimed wood and specialty wood products, such as Douglas fir, white oak and more. The added fire resistance of the fire retardant coating does not last a lifetime, unlike wood treated with fireproof material and wood that is naturally fire resistant. In the early 1970s, a flammability standard for California furniture known as Technical Bulletin 117 (TB11) led to the use of fireproof chemicals in furniture and baby products.
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