Fire-retardant chemicals, in concept, seem beneficial. After all, in theory, they should slow a fire’s spread and save more lives. Yet, at the same time, many fire-retardant chemicals are toxic and can be found in items ranging from furniture to clothing to baby products. Because going green is beyond a trend and, at this point, has become a necessary lifestyle, USA Today ran a piece recently about the hazards of fire-retardant chemicals in baby products.
Fire-retardant chemicals are so omnipresent that even the dust in your house has traces of them. If you consider the habits of a baby, including sleeping and putting objects into his or her mouth, exposure to fire retardant chemicals seems unavoidable. In fact, such chemicals are found in the polyurethane foam in baby mattresses; up until the 1970s, they were added to baby clothes, until a study showed that these substances cause cancer in animals.
According to the USA Today article, the concentration of fire-retardant chemicals in toddlers and preschoolers is three times the amount in adults. While such chemicals are harmful to people of all ages, they can affect behavioral and brain development in children, lower IQ, or result in learning products.
But, is the addition of such chemicals even necessary? According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times in 2009, fire-retardant chemicals worsen emergency situations, as materials like polyurethane foam release the chemicals into the air during a fire. Although California, the state with the most strict fire standards, has made an exception for baby products, a significant amount of furniture is still made with fire-retardant chemicals: 56 percent of infant carriers, 44 percent of car seats, and 40 percent of portable cribs.
Finding baby products free of these chemicals is difficult but not impossible. Baby mattresses are a particular concern, as a child sleeps for 70 percent of its first year, and Naturepedic makes products that are organic and free of toxic chemicals. Containing no PVC, vinyl, or phthalates (a plastic softener), Naturepedic baby mattresses are tested for chemical emissions and are Greenguard certified. Each baby mattress has a 100-percent food-grade polyethylene waterproof surface, organic cotton filling, and a non-toxic and naturally-derived fire barrier system.
