Last night NBC Nightly News did a story on our recent study which found potentially harmful flame retardants in 85% of the couches we tested.
NBC interviewed Dr. Blum about how flame retardants escape from couches and end up in people.
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The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents companies that manufacture flame retardant chemicals, has responded to press coverage of our couch study with a statement that includes the following:
There is no data in this study that indicate that the levels of flame retardants found would cause any human health problems.
However, in our study we specifically reference data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) indicating that people may be exposed to unsafe levels of the cancer-causing flame retardant chlorinated Tris (TDCPP) from furniture:
Our current study suggests that approximately 50% of the residential couches in use by average Americans are treated with TDCPP, indicating that a large percentage of the population may have increased cancer risks due to exposure to TDCPP treated furniture, according to the CPSC model.
You can find that CPSC report here.
You can read more about the couch study in our recent blog post.