Results from Screening Polyurethane Foam Based Consumer Products for Flame Retardant Chemicals: Assessing Impacts on the Change in the Furniture Flammability Standards.
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2016-10
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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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Cooper, Ellen M, Gretchen Kroeger, Katherine Davis, Charlotte R Clark, P Lee Ferguson and Heather M Stapleton (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.
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Charlotte Clark
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 methods, including use of qualitative research software.
Prior to completing her PhD, she worked for 5 years as the Director of the Center for Environmental Education in the Nicholas School, and for 12 years doing air pollution regulatory work under contract for the US EPA.
Areas of interest: environmental education, free-choice learning, sustainability education, qualitative research methods, collective action, community behavior, responsible environmental behavior, informal learning, food/environment intersection
P. Lee Ferguson
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 and application of analytical methods for measuring organic pollutants in the environment. Specifically, a major thrust of research in the lab involves the application of high resolution mass spectrometry to detect, identify, and quantify emerging contaminants in wastewater and drinking water. His recent work has centered on the development of non-targeted analysis workflows and methods, assessment of polyfluorinated alkyl substances in water and wastewater, and leaching and bioaccessibility of polymer-associated chemicals from microplastic particles in the aquatic environment. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed chapters and journal articles, serves on advisory councils for several organizations focused on emerging pollutants in the environment, and has testified before the U.S. Senate on environmental health concerns related to nanotechnology. In North Carolina, he helped lead the formation of the NC PFAS Testing Network to assess statewide drinking water contamination from PFAS chemicals.
Heather M. Stapleton
Professor Heather Stapleton is an environmental chemist and exposure scientist in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Her research interests focus on identification of halogenated and organophosphate chemicals in building materials, furnishings and consumer products, and estimation of human exposure, particularly in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children. Her laboratory utilizes mass spectrometry, including targeted and nontargeted approaches, to characterize chemical burdens in both environmental samples and biological tissues to support environmental health research. Currently she serves as the Director for the Duke Superfund Research Center, and Director of the Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory, which is part of NIH’s Human Health Environmental Analysis Resource.
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