Is a vintage couch safe in my home?

Past, present and future of flame retardants in the home and how to mitigate risk. #flameretardants #healthysolutions #saferalternatives #takeaction

I imagine my aunties wearing high waisted tight pleather pants, tiny floral print bralettes 🌸cigarettes lit and candles creating the maximum vibey space until the party ends and they accidentally fall asleep on the couch without ensuring all candles were blown out and cigarettes are no longer in their hand. In what seems like a blink of an eye that one spark of fire hits the synthetic couch, which then lights the synthetic carpet that then goes to the synthetic curtains and before you can say WTF happened your entire house is burnt to a crisp.

California Technical Bulletin 117 issued in 1970 was the first instance requiring a flame retardant in furniture and other home goods. While other states did not issue this same legislation most manufacturers in accordance with this began using flame retardants.

The Chemical Solution for Your Safety 😉

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) was the chemical company's solution to a flame retardant application for furniture, curtains, carpets and eventually electronics. These entered into mass production of furniture with no testing to ensure that they were safe to be in contact with the skin.

PDBE Flame Retardants were added to furniture, carpets, curtains and upholstered furniture from 1970- 2004 without testing and then it was found to bioaccumulate in the body storing in fatty tissues (body fat, between skin, and in the inner cavities of bones) and they can persist in the body for years to a decade depending on how much you are exposed to. PBDE disrupts the endocrine system, immune and reproductive systems and results in neurological development in children.

Pause and think how often your bare skin touches carpet, couches, or other upholstered chairs, or curtains. Now imagine those microscopic chemicals that you can’t see touching your skin and slowly permeating through your skin into the system and over time from every touch these accumulate in your muscles, tissues and bones.

How often in a day does your bare skin touch a material that might have a flame retardants?

• not at all
• 1- 3 hours
• 3- 6 hours
• 6 + hours

The real question is whether or not to buy vintage is are newer couches less toxic?

Should I buy that vintage couch? The chemical companies manufacturing these made hundreds of millions of pounds that are still persistent in the environment even 2 decades after they were discontinued.

The answer unfortunately is really no, these PDBE’s were replaced with a variety of new flame retardants including 1) organophosphate, halogen-free, intumescent, and nanocomposite. After a quick search on research on safety of organophospate flame retardants it's found that these are neurotoxins impairing learning and memory, endocrine disruptors leading to hormonal imbalances, reproductive toxicity included reduced fertility, and developmental toxicity including altered brain development and impaired function.

WHY are these toxic chemicals allowed?

A very powerful chemical lobby and the practice of “grandfathering” in toxic chemicals that were used before we understood their impact.

How to mitigate risk when you can’t avoid flame retardants:

1. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PDBE) can be found in dust so when dusting wear a face mask to avoid breathing it in.

2. On couches or other furniture avoid skin contact wear pants, or put a cotton sheet barrier between link to my favorite brand (yes they are expensive but I think it is worth it for an undyed cotton sheet an other alternative is to buy organic undyed fabric the cheaper option)

3. Eating a diet rich in foods that help to remove toxins from the body (garlic, cilantro, seaweed) can help (while there isn’t much research on this I think trying something is better than nothing)

4. Look for oeko-tex certification on furniture and home goods

5. QUIT buying so much cheap furniture and home goods. The more new items you bring into your home the more potentially hazardous chemicals.

Comment below on topics you are interested in learning about or questions on flame retardants.