For Immediate Release

Contact: Christina Mulka

Christina_mulka@durbin.senate.gov

202-228-5643

August 7, 2014

DURBIN ASKS MANUFACTURERS WHAT STEPS THEY ARE TAKING TO ELIMINATE USE OF FIRE RETARDANT CHEMICALS

Chicago Tribune recently cited growing body of evidence that exposure to these toxic chemicals continues among children and adults

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on furniture manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to explain what steps they are taking to reduce the risk of flame retardant chemicals by minimizing or eliminating their use in upholstered furniture. 

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune cited a study by the Environmental Working Group and Duke University which found that families, particularly women and children, continue to be exposed and accumulate these potentially harmful chemicals in their systems.

“While California’s revised standard means manufacturers no longer have to add flame retardant chemicals to residential furniture, there is nothing to prevent manufacturers from continuing to use flame retardant chemicals, even in new products.  The burden now falls on manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers to take affirmative steps to reduce risk by eliminating the use of flame retardant chemicals in upholstered furniture,” said Durbin.  “Consumers have a right to know, through company disclosure and product labelling, whether or not manufacturers intend to continue using these toxic chemicals.”

Today’s letter was sent to the following organizations: North American Home Furnishing Association, American Home Furnishing Alliance, Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association, Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, Polyurethane Foam Association, National Council of Textile Organizations, and Sustainable Furnishings Council.

In November 2013, the Governor of California announced the approval of new flammability standards for upholstered furniture that give manufacturers a viable path for meeting flammability standards without using toxic flame retardant chemicals in cushion filling materials.  Before the revision, the California standard played a major role in driving the use of flame retardant chemicals in upholstered furniture nationwide.

In July 2013, Durbin joined U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) in announcing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), awarded a $1 million grant to Underwriters Laboratories Inc. in Northbrook, Illinois which has helped protect the public by conducting important research to establish safety standards.

In July 2012, Durbin chaired a hearing on the safety and effectiveness of flame retardant chemicals, following a Chicago Tribune four-part investigative report on flame retardant chemicals and furniture flammability standards which explored the role of Big Tobacco and their attempt to shift the focus from cigarettes as the cause of fire deaths. Chemical companies, which sought to preserve a lucrative market for their products, teamed with the tobacco industry and state fire marshals to steer policymakers away from developing fire-safe cigarette standards and toward rules requiring furniture flammability standards.

Text of today’s letter is below:

August 7, 2014

Dear XXXX:  

Beginning this year, manufacturers are able to produce residential furniture that meets industry flammability standards without adding flame retardant chemicals, and studies show that children continue to accumulate these potentially harmful chemicals in their bodies.  Please provide responses to a few questions about the furniture industry’s efforts – and specifically those of your members -- to minimize or eliminate the use of fire retardant chemicals in upholstered furniture.

·         How are products being labeled so that purchasers (consumers, manufacturers, or suppliers) can choose products that are free of fire retardant chemicals?

·         Since the updated flammability standard for California went into effect in January of this year, has there been any change in the availability of flame retardant-free furniture in the retail market? 

·         What disincentives might remain that would prevent you or your members from eliminating the use of flame retardant chemicals in upholstered furniture?

In May of 2012, the Chicago Tribune published a 4-part series on flame retardant chemicals that explored the role of Big Tobacco and chemical companies in increasing the use of flame retardant chemicals despite evidence suggesting these chemicals provide no meaningful protection from furniture fires.  Following publication of this series, I held a hearing entitled “Are Consumers Adequately Protected from Flammability of Upholstered Furniture?” to further examine the role safety standards may have played in actually driving the use of flame retardant chemicals in furniture.

Both the Tribune series and the hearing highlighted that California’s Technical Bulletin 117 (TB117), the primary upholstered furniture flammability standard for furniture manufacturers, could only be met through the use of flame retardant chemicals.  The increased attention on the role of TB117, new research that found flame retardant chemicals provided no meaningful protection from furniture fires but have potentially dangerous effects on human health, and public sentiment finally drove California to revise TB117.  The new TB117, which can be met without the use of flame retardant chemicals, went into effect in January of this year.

A recent study from the Environmental Working Group and Duke University, which adds to a growing body of work, found that families, particularly women and children, continue to be exposed and accumulate these potentially harmful chemicals in their systems.

While California’s revised standard means manufacturers no longer have to add flame retardant chemicals to furniture, there is nothing to prevent manufacturers from continuing to use flame retardant chemicals, even in new products.  The burden now falls on manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers to take affirmative steps to reduce risk by eliminating the use of flame retardant chemicals in upholstered furniture. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

-30-