CPSC Warns Manufacturers, Consumers About Flame Retardants

The Consumer Products Safety Commission has urged manufacturers to stop using organohalogen flame retardants in certain items and encouraged consumers to demand products free from them.

The CPSC published a guidance document on 28 September, following up on its historic 3-2 vote a week earlier to move towards a ban on the whole OFR category of chemicals. It will apply to:

> children's products;

> upholstered residential furniture;

> mattresses; and

> the external casings of electronics devices.

The CPSC has not yet banned household products containing the substances or required precautionary labelling, said a Federal Register notice, which announced the publication of the guidance.

However, "based on the overwhelming scientific evidence presented to date", the commission voted to grant a petition by NGOs to initiate rulemaking under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) and directed staff to convene a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel, "to further study the effects of OFRs as a class of chemicals on consumers' health".

In the notice, it says it "considers the use of OFRs in children's products, upholstered furniture sold for use in residences, mattresses and mattress pads, and plastic casings surrounding electronics to be ill-advised and encourages manufacturers to eliminate using them in such products.

"Further, the commission recommends that, before purchasing such products for resale, importers, distributors and retailers obtain assurances from manufacturers that such products do not contain OFRs."

Finally, it recommends that consumers – especially those who are pregnant or with young children – inquire and obtain assurances from retailers such products do not contain the substances.

"We applaud the CPSC’s action today to warn consumers about these harmful chemicals while the agency moves forward with a ban," said Eve Gartner, co-counsel for Earthjustice.

However, the NGO's statement noted that is impossible for consumers to know for sure if products contain OFRs "because in most cases manufacturers aren’t required to disclose their use of the chemicals".

"Consumers can’t shop their way out of the problem, which is why a ban is needed," Ms Gartner said. "Today’s warning is a good interim step."

Granting the petition and publishing the warning, is likely to be the last official action of the panel's Democratic majority. It will flip to Republican control, once the Senate confirms President Trump's nomination of product liability defence lawyer Dana Baiocco to replace a commissioner whose term expires on 30 September.