Could the chemicals in your couch be giving you cancer?
Tony Stefani spent almost three decades putting his life on the line to save others.
But several years ago, the retired firefighter was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer — the kind you’d expect to find in people working in toxic chemical plants.
And, as it turns out, he might as well have been.
Stefani is just one of several firefighters who developed cancer after repeated exposure to flame retardants that may be soaked into your living room and bedroom furniture right now.
And your house doesn’t have to be on fire to expose you and your family to these very same cancer-causing chemicals…every single day.
And that’s exactly what happened when California passed a standard 40 years ago that basically forced all American furniture manufacturers to start soaking their furniture foam in flame retardants.
I’m talking about incredibly toxic chemicals like TDCIPP and TPHP that we’ve known for ages can cause cancer.
And it’s bad enough that you and the people you love are exposed to these chemical cocktails every time you sit in the recliner or take a nap on the couch. But, worse still, the flame retardants don’t work very well.
That means every time Stefani and his fellow firefighters rushed into a home, they were getting their lungs filled with the stuff as furniture burned.
“It seemed like every month we would hear about another case [of cancer],” Stefani said. “It was a real eye-opener.”
In fact, a group that Stefani founded — the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation — successfully fought three years ago to get California to repeal the standard that was forcing cancer-causing flame retardants into our furniture.
That’s good news for all of us — but, unfortunately, it’s not the end of the story.
For even though the law now allows for furniture to have flame-resistant fabric used in place of the toxic foam, it hasn’t stopped companies from continuing to make and sell furniture containing it.
As a result, a coalition of health and environmental organizations from around the country has petitioned the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ban the sale of four kinds of products containing the chemicals — furniture, mattresses, electronic casings and items intended for children.
And tens of thousands of people, including firefighters, doctors, nurses, scientists and cancer survivors have flooded the CPSC with comments supporting the proposed prohibition.
But the chemical industry is still trying to pull its toxic wool over our eyes, and has also sent in comments opposing such a ban, as have manufacturers’ trade groups.
The public comment period at the CPSC recently ended. But while we wait to see if the agency will side with consumers and first responders or, as often happens, come down on the side of industry, there are some things you can do that will limit your exposure.
Tip 1: Replace that old couch or easy chair (see tips 3 and 4 before you go shopping) and most especially toss that old crib mattress rather than giving it to a friend or family member expecting a baby.
Tip 2: If you’re going to be pulling up any old carpeting, be sure to wear a mask and keep the kids and pets away. Carpet padding is made from scrap foam and is very likely to contain flame-retardant chemicals.
Tip 3: For furniture manufactured after January 1, 2015, look for an attached label saying it “contain(s) NO added flame retardant chemicals.”
Tip 4: Don’t purchase any foam furniture with a label that says it complies with “technical bulletin 117.” It will almost certainly contain one of these dangerous chemicals.
In addition, there’s a simple step you can take to check any polyurethane foam padding in your home furniture.
Simply snip a marble-sized piece of foam from the item, put it in a re-sealable plastic bag and send it to either Duke University or the Center for Environmental Health for a free analysis.
Sources:
“American people to safety commission: Ban harmful flame retardants!” Mariana Lo, February 1, 2016, Earthjustice, earthjustice.org
