Results from Screening Polyurethane Foam Based Consumer Products for Flame Retardant Chemicals: Assessing Impacts on the Change in the Furniture Flammability Standards.
Abstract
Flame retardant (FR) chemicals have often been added to polyurethane foam to meet
required state and federal flammability standards. However, some FRs (e.g., PBDEs
and TDCIPP) are associated with health hazards and are now restricted from use in
some regions. In addition, California's residential furniture flammability standard
(TB-117) has undergone significant amendments over the past few years, and TDCIPP
has been added to California's Proposition 65 list. These events have likely led to
shifts in the types of FRs used, and the products to which they are applied. To provide
more information on the use of FRs in products containing polyurethane foam (PUF),
we established a screening service for the general public. Participants residing in
the US were allowed to submit up to 5 samples from their household for analysis, free
of charge, and supplied information on the product category, labeling, and year and
state of purchase. Between February 2014 and June 2016, we received 1141 PUF samples
for analysis from various products including sofas, chairs, mattresses, car seats
and pillows. Of these samples tested, 52% contained a FR at levels greater than 1%
by weight. Tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl)phosphate (TDCIPP) was the most common FR detected
in PUF samples, and was the most common FR detected in all product categories. Analysis
of the data by purchasing date suggests that the use of TDCIPP decreased in recent
years, paralleled with an increase in the use of TCIPP and a nonhalogenated aryl phosphate
mixture we call "TBPP." In addition, we observed significant decreases in FR applications
in furniture products and child car seats, suggesting the use of additive FRs in PUF
may be declining, perhaps as a reflection of recent changes to TB-117 and Proposition
65. More studies are needed to determine how these changes in FR use relate to changes
in exposure among the general population.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/17099Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1021/acs.est.6b01602Publication Info
(2016). Results from Screening Polyurethane Foam Based Consumer Products for Flame Retardant
Chemicals: Assessing Impacts on the Change in the Furniture Flammability Standards.
Environmental science & technology, 50(19). 10.1021/acs.est.6b01602. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/17099.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Charlotte Clark
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Sustainability in the Division of Environmental
Sciences and Policy
Clark's primary interest is the intersection of collective learning and collective
action. She studies how environmental education can contribute to management of common
pool resources, and how informal learning processes engage with behavior change for
individuals and communities around environmental issues. She applies these concepts
in work around campus sustainability, and leads the Education Subcommittee of Duke's
Campus Sustainability Committee. She uses and teaches qualitative research me
P. Lee Ferguson
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Ferguson is an Environmental Analytical Chemist who joined Duke in 2009 after
six years as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
at the University of South Carolina.
Research in the Ferguson laboratory is focused on development of novel methods for
trace analysis of organic and nanoparticulate contaminants in the aquatic environment.
Specifically, the laboratory uses high performance mass spectrometry techniques (e.g.
UHPLC-Orbitrap MS/MS) to det
Heather M. Stapleton
Dan and Bunny Gabel Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics and Sustainable Environmental
Management
Dr. Stapleton's research focuses on understanding the fate and transformation of organic
contaminants in aquatic systems and in indoor environments. Her main focus has been
on the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of brominated flame retardants, and specifically
polybrominated diphenyl ethers,(PBDEs). Her current research projects explore the
routes of human exposure to flame retardant chemicals and examine the way these compounds
are photodegraded and metabolized using mass spectrometry to
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