In a broad stroke applauded by consumer advocates, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a strong new warning this month. Consumers, especially pregnant women and young children, should avoid products containing Organohalogen Flame Retardants (OFRs), a class of chemicals found in the plastic casings of electronic devices, children’s toys, mattresses, and furniture.
OFRs have been linked to a long list of serious health issues, like decreased IQ, learning deficits, and hyperactivity in children. There’s also evidence they may impair memory function, and may increase risk of cancer, reproductive problems, and hormone and immune disorders.
The CPSC warning comes just one week after the agency voted to take steps toward banning OFRs altogether in certain products, but that process is likely to take years. For now, the CPSC is calling on manufacturers to voluntarily eliminate these compounds from consumer products.
What does this mean to you when you are sourcing two hot categories: Electronics and child-appealing items? First off, these chemicals are everywhere. The Chicago Tribune’s “Playing with Fire” investigative series detailed how the “average American baby is born with 10 fingers, 10 toes and the highest recorded levels of flame retardants among infants in the world. The toxic chemicals are present in nearly every home, packed into couches, chairs and many other products. Two powerful industries—Big Tobacco and chemical manufacturers—waged deceptive campaigns that led to the proliferation of these chemicals, which don’t even work as promised.”
“Dangerous chemicals present a much more serious concern than fire in the home,” said CPSC Commissioner Bob Adler. “It’s not that there isn’t great concern about home fires. The issue is: ‘Do these chemicals give us the answer to this risk?’ And my answer is they do not.”
“This is the country’s preeminent safety regulator stepping up and saying it’s concerned about the risks posed by an entire class of flame-retardant chemicals,” says William Wallace, a Consumers Union policy analyst. “It’s a strong signal to manufacturers to get moving on phasing these substances out.”
OFRs can leach out of consumer products, accumulate in household dust, and are then absorbed into the body. “We know that all chemicals in this class will escape into the environment and into people,” Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Science, told regulators at a public hearing. “We know that they migrate continuously from everyday household products into the air around us.”
Of course, not everyone is happy with the CPSC’s warning. The American Chemistry Council even disputed the assertion that OFRs are more harmful than good. “Today’s actions are misguided and could jeopardize the safety of products in the future,” the trade group said in a prepared statement. The ACC pointed out the CPSC guidance is nonbinding, and vowed to “actively communicate with the manufacturing sector to promote continued use of OFRs while regulatory agencies consider an outright ban”.
Eva Gartner, an attorney with the environmental group Earth Justice says that the chemical industry’s stance makes consumer opinions and actions even more important. “Policymakers and manufacturers will hear from industry that these chemicals are fine to keep using,” she says. “It’s important that they hear from retailers and consumers as well, that OFRs are no longer acceptable in these products.”
So, what can you do to protect your clients, and yourself at home? Environmental health experts suggest:
• Check furniture labels. When shopping for furniture, choose furniture labeled “CONTAINS NO ADDED FLAME RETARDANTS.”
• Check kids’ product labels. Make sure any children’s products you use, or source, are not labeled as meeting the California TB 117 flammability standard (these products likely contain flame retardants in the foam).
• Avoid kids’ products made with polyurethane foam. They tend to contain high concentrations of OFRs.
• Dust and wash hands regularly. To reduce exposure from products in your home, cleanliness counts! Wash hands, especially those of young children, often, to keep dust from attaching to food or fingers and being consumed. Regularly wet dust and wet mop to reduce dust, and use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
There’s more research to indicate that the health risks posed by OFRs outweigh any fire-repelling benefit. Scientists say the chemicals don’t do much to reduce fires because the small amounts used in any individual product are generally not enough to extinguish spreading flames. So, why put your clients or your family at risk?
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. You can find him still advising Global 500 Brands on promo product initiatives, working as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Follow Jeff on Twitter, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.