By Deanna Duke, author of the book "The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You" and the environmental blog, http://www.thecrunchychicken.com. Deanna lives in Washington State where the tests were conducted and can also be found on Facebook. 

When my children were babies, their health and safety were high priorities for me as their mother. They still are. I made sure I breastfed my children as long as possible and made sure I bought them car seats with the highest safety ratings. As a mom, I take pride in making sure that I am doing everything I can for their well being. I expect that children's products available on the market are safe and contain nothing to expose their young, growing bodies to hazardous chemicals. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

A report released from Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States shows that children and families are exposed to chemical flame retardants in children's products. These toxic flame retardants were found in 85% of the products tested, ranging from nursing pillows, changing pads to car seats. The most prevalent flame retardant found was chlorinated Tris (TDCPP), a chemical that was voluntarily removed from children’s pajamas in the 1970s when it was found to cause adverse health effects. In fact, California recently classified chlorinated Tris as a carcinogen, and evidence links the chemical to neurotoxicity as well as hormone disruption. It's a chemical that should not be anywhere near our children.

So, that nursing pillow from My Brest Friend that I received as a gift and used with both my kids when they were tiny? Two different kinds of toxic flame retardants. The co-sleeper my babies slept in by Arm's Reach? Five different kinds of toxic flame retardants. The Babies R Us Changing Pad that we used for at least three years? Three different kinds of toxic flame retardants. And the Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat and Britax Roundabout car seats that got years and years of use? All contain chlorinated Tris. 

"To say this makes me irate is an understatement. Without research like this, how would consumers even know what kind of toxic exposures our children are being subjected to?"

To say this makes me irate is an understatement. Without research like this, how would consumers even know what kind of toxic exposures our children are being subjected to? And, furthermore, this illustrates the fact that there are probably far more undiscovered toxins lurking in the many household products that are surrounding us.

 Also, there are bills introduced at both the state and federal level working to ensure that manufacturers use only materials made with safe chemicals.  Here in Washington state, a new bill called the "Toxic-Free Kids Act" was just introduced this week.  States are passing chemical regulation laws because the current federal law that regulates chemicals is completely broken. Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) has introduced the "Safe Chemicals Act" in the US Congress which if passed would help keep all American families safer from toxic chemicals.

Until these laws are passed, here are four basic tips for consumers to stay safer:

• Look for companies that avoid chemical flame retardants and use naturally fire-resistant materials instead.
• Avoid all products containing polyurethane foam with a label reading TB117, which means it has likely been treated with toxic flame retardants.
• To get rid of dust particles that are harboring flame retardants, use a wet mop and a vacuum with a true HEPA filter to clean your home.
• And, finally, tell your legislators to support policies like the Washington state "Toxic-Free Kids Act" and the federal "Safe Chemicals Act" that will help eliminate toxic flame retardants from consumer products, especially products intended for kids.

For more information on the Hidden Hazards report, including the health effects of flame retardants as well as which products were included in the testing, go to: www.watoxics.org/publications/hidden-hazards.

Comments

I have a question about your suggestion: "Look for companies that avoid chemical flame retardants and use naturally fire-resistant materials instead."

How exactly are we supposed to identify such companies when they all obfuscate their practices? I bought the Britax Roundabout and the Graco Snugride precisely because of the test results on healthystuff.org...and now I learn they're treated with TRIS?!?! What the hell? How am I supposed to find anything that's safe?

How about a suggestion about HOW to find companies that don't use this crap. That would be awesome.

Posted by: Sabrina | Jan 18, 2012 10:41:15 PM

Thank you so much for sharing this information. I too, live in Washington State and have an almost 6 month old using SEVERAL of these products full of toxins. It makes me cry knowing I have contributed to poisoning her without even having a clue. I will be writing my legislators!! Do you know of companies that are making products with naturally fire-resistant materials? I am having a heck of a time trying to identify them!!!
Thanks again!!
Melissa

Posted by: Melissa | Jan 13, 2012 2:32:37 PM

While it'll be some time before I have kids of my own, did you find any suggestions for car seats? Basically everything else has non-toxic options available that are fairly easy to find, at least online if not in stores nearby, but I did some searching at one point on car seat options without polyurthane foam or flame retardants out of curiosity and didn't come up with anything useful. Since wool padding would replace flame retardants, it seems that they should be pretty easy to make, but hopefully they'll come out with them soon if they haven't yet.

Posted by: Lauryn | Jan 11, 2012 10:57:50 AM