Thank you for this valuable study. The more access to informatio­n the public has about these chemicals and toxins that are greatly impacting our health, the more empowered we can be to put pressure on lawmakers to regulate it and make safer choices for ourselves and our families.

If you read this study, you will see that companies putting carcinogen­s and hormone disruptors into our baby’s products whether consumers like it or not. Duke University tested 20 popular baby products and found toxic flame retardants in 80% of the products. How are we to know if companies won’t disclose what they put in products unless scientists test them? What we do know is that companies have found safer alternativ­es and that we can protect people from fires without the use of chemicals. There is the barrier method, which contains the foam inside a polymer material, is already commonly used in mattresses­. They can also use natural flame-reta­rdant materials that absorb heat and give off water and low melting glasses that create a protective layer when heated. Companies that already use these safer and natural alternativ­es are competitiv­e and are in demand. Orbit baby, Baby Bjorn, Naturpedic­, and Boppy are a few companies that do not use flame retardant chemicals. Other companies need to follow their lead and stop putting toxic carcinogen­s in products, especially products meant for babies.

The report mentioned in this story unscientif­ically questions the safety of a number of flame retardants­, which play an important role in fire safety by providing additional critical escape time that can be life-savin­g. Research shows that fires are still a major safety concern that disproport­ionately affect the very young. NAFRA members believe robust scientific analysis is critical to making informed decisions about fire safety and flame retardants­. We support production of flame retardants with appropriat­e environmen­tal profiles that provide needed fire safety performanc­e.

The flame retardant that is the focus of the story, TDCPP, is an effective flame retardant used by manufactur­ers to meet national fire safety requiremen­ts, as well as progressiv­e fire safety laws. Questions about the safe use of TDCPP were answered in 2008 when the EU completed the most recent and comprehens­ive assessment of the flame retardant using all of the best informatio­n available. The assessment looked at risk and specifical­ly at cancer and concluded that there were no concerns for consumers in relation to carcinogen­icity from potential inhalation or exposure to children via the oral route. We believe the EU’s comprehens­ive Risk Assessment addresses the potential concerns raised by this article.

Bryan Goodman
Manager, Communicat­ions
North American Flame Retardant Alliance