Hazardous flame retardants used in sofa-filled furniture flame retardant often become a "selling point"

 

Recently, a supervisory agency in Berkeley, California, sued IKEA, JCPenney (Jessie Penny, US department store chain), Kmart (US Kmart, the world-renowned shopping site, the largest discount retailer in the United States and the world ’s largest More than 30 sales companies, including one of the wholesalers), sued because these companies sold furniture containing large amounts of flame retardants to consumers, in violation of California Proposition 65, these companies have agreed to pay a total of 230 Ten thousand dollars in civil fines.

 

 

How to avoid the hazards of flame retardants

 

Harmful flame retardants are often used in sofa filling

 

When choosing a sofa , in addition to comfort, you must also consider its flame retardancy. Researchers at Duke University have discovered that many sofa foam fillers contain flame retardants, which can cause cancer, hormonal imbalances, low fertility, etc. It can also affect the brain development of infants and young children, reduce their IQ and cause ADHD.

 

According to US media reports, Professor Stapleton of Duke University ’s Department of Environmental Chemistry and her partner collected sofas purchased from all over the United States from 1985 to 2010, of which 94% were purchased after 2005, from which more than 100 types of polyurethanes were obtained. Sample of foam plastic (filling material commonly used for sofas). In these samples, 85% contain flame retardants that are harmful to human health.

 

The harmful flame retardants referred to by Professor Stapleton mainly target two chemicals. One is Tris (trishydroxymethylaminomethane), which is a carcinogenic flame retardant containing chlorine. Because of its potential health risks, it has been strictly prohibited from being used in infant clothes as early as 1977, but in sofas and other furniture There are still no specific regulations. "Over 40% of the sofa fillings have Tris." Professor Stapleton said. The second chemical is PentaBDEs (pentabromobiphenyl ether). "A large number of studies have proved that brominated flame retardants can penetrate into the environment and accumulate in living organisms over time; it can be said that they are almost impermeable, including air, soil, underwater sediments, wild animals, human blood, Breast milk; and according to existing research, brominated flame retardants have been shown to disrupt endocrine activity, affect the regulation of thyroid function, and even affect brain development; especially excessive exposure of pregnant women will directly lead to low birth weight and IQ of newborn babies. Low and impaired performance. "Professor Stapleton said. Because of this, some U.S. producers have voluntarily abandoned this flame retardant after 2005, and it has been banned in 23 states across the United States. Most developed countries have also abandoned brominated flame retardants.

 

Flame retardant furniture is often a "selling point "

 

" Even if our mattress is on fire, it will extinguish itself after burning for a while. Some people who are used to smoking in bed have to choose this kind of", a brand mattress sales person said that it can indeed be achieved after adding flame retardants. Such an effect.

 

There are currently two standards related to flame retardants in China: One is the newly released standard for harmful substances for plastic furniture, GB28481-2012, which will be officially implemented in July next year. The standard provides specific limits for the use of polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), two major types of brominated flame retardants: the addition per kilogram should not exceed 1000 mg; GB20286-2006 "Flame-retardant Products and Components for Combustion Performance Requirements and Labeling" formulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the standard mainly focuses on the flame-retardant performance of products (including sofas) in public places.

 

There are many domestic voices calling on the country to issue flame retardant standards, but with the introduction of a series of environmental protection policies in Europe and America, the development of flame retardants has been restricted in recent years, and the categories have been further selected. "Currently, domestic flame retardants in the air Concentration testing still lacks technical means and can only detect the composition of furniture, but it must be broken down, which is obviously not feasible for families. "Different household materials use flame retardants to evaporate differently. If it is a fireproof wooden floor, it is generally treated with paint or impregnated paper as the finishing material for flame retardant treatment. This kind of volatilization is relatively fast; if it is a filler in furniture such as mattresses or sofas containing flame retardants, then volatilization will be relatively Slower.

 

Whether the flame retardant causes health damage depends on many aspects, consumers do not have to be too panic. In terms of the current penetration rate of flame retardant additions in China, the concentration of ordinary home ambient air should be low, and the flame retardant evaporates slowly, and the amount of volatilization itself is relatively small; in addition, brominated flame retardants are easy Volatile, the damage is also great, China has begun to gradually restrict its use. But if it is a phosphorus-containing inorganic flame retardant, its volatilization and damage will be much smaller. (Editor: Peter)

 

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