# On TV Tonight! Toxic Hot Seat



## beach (Nov 26, 2013)

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*Watch Toxic Hot Seat*

*11/25 @ 9:00 p.m (ET) on HBO*
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The documentary film, “_Toxic Hot Seat_,” about the need to remove harmful flame retardants in consumer products, such as furniture, carpet, draperies, mattresses, appliances and electronics, airs tonight (11/25) on HBO. 

Produced by filmmakers James Redford and Kirby Walker, _Toxic Hot Seat_ is set against the backdrop of the award-winning 2012 _Chicago Tribune_ investigative series, "Playing With Fire." The documentary tells the story of how Big Tobacco skillfully convinced fire safety officials to back a standard that, in effect, requires all furniture to be filled with toxic flame retardants. 

Through the personal stories of a number of San Francisco Local 798 fire fighters (some of whom are cancer survivors), a renowned chemist whose work helped remove fire retardants from children's pajamas in the 1970s and a determined young Maine legislator and mom, _Toxic Hot Seat_ chronicles the fight for the truth against a shadowy nexus of money and politics.

Read _New York Times_ columnist Nicholas D. Kristof's opinion piece, "Danger Lurks in That Mickey Mouse Couch," which explains why IAFF members are getting sick at alarming rates.

IAFF affiliates in several states, including Maine, Washington, Vermont and Oregon, have passed state laws banning dangerous flame retardants. The IAFF has also called on the Canadian government to ban toxic flame retardants, and has worked in the United States with congressional allies to ban brominated flame retardants. The IAFF remains steadfast in its efforts to improve the health and safety of its members and citizens who are exposed to these toxic substances.  






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## Frank (Nov 26, 2013)

Contrasted with the past few code cycles where the IFC has added the requirement for Fire Retardant furniture and matresses to more and more occupancies from institutional to include R-2 college and university dormitories.  IFC Section 805


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## mark handler (Nov 27, 2013)

California unveils new flammability standard that avoids chemicals in furniture

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2013/california-flammability-standard

California unveiled a proposal on Friday that would transform its controversial fire safety standards by dropping a requirement that has led to widespread use of flame retardants in U.S. couches and other furniture. The current standard, adopted in the 1970s, mandates that foam used in furniture cushions must withstand a 12-second exposure to a small, open flame. As a result, manufacturers throughout the nation have been adding brominated or chlorinated chemicals to the foam to slow the spread of flames. Under the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown, a state agency released a new draft rule Friday that will eliminate the open-flame test. Instead, state officials say they will require a smolder-only test, which manufacturers could meet without flame retardants while still preventing fires. Over the past several years, concern about the chemicals has mounted as evidence points to an array of potential health effects, including reduced IQs, attention problems and other neurological effects in children exposed in the womb or during infancy. The chemicals have been building up in human bodies, including breast milk, around the world.

Flame retardants are found in nearly all couches in the United States. California's new flammability standard could change that.

Brett Israel

Staff writer

Environmental Health News

Feb. 8, 2013

California unveiled a proposal on Friday that would transform its controversial fire safety standards by dropping a requirement that has led to widespread use of flame retardants in U.S. couches and other furniture.

The current standard, adopted in the 1970s, mandates that foam used in furniture cushions must withstand a 12-second exposure to a small, open flame. As a result, manufacturers throughout the nation have been adding brominated or chlorinated chemicals to the foam to slow the spread of flames.

Under the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown, a state agency released a new draft rule on Friday morning that will eliminate the open-flame test. Instead, state officials say they will require a smolder-only test, which manufacturers could meet without flame retardants while still preventing fires.

Over the past several years, concern about the chemicals has mounted as evidence points to an array of potential health effects, including reduced IQs, attention problems and other neurological effects in children exposed in the womb or during infancy. The chemicals have been building up in human bodies, including breast milk, around the world.

The new draft is in response to a directive issued by Brown to improve fire safety while reducing exposure to toxic chemicals. Smoldering objects such as cigarettes, heaters and extension cords, rather than open flames, are the biggest source of household fires.

"This [proposal] will provide consumers with a more realistic approach to fire safety in addition to reducing the upholstered furniture’s smolder ignition potential," according to the state's overview of the proposed changes. "As an added benefit, this regulatory proposal significantly reduces or eliminates manufacturers’ reliance on materials treated with flame retardant chemicals. It is the Bureau’s understanding that many manufacturers, who are no longer compelled to make materials open-flame resistant, will no longer use flame retardant chemicals in their products. Manufacturers would instead be able to purchase and use the less expensive non-flame retardant materials therefore saving in material costs."

State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) called the administration's move "enormous" given the Legislature’s "inability due to the power of the chemical industry to move in this direction.” He sponsored a bill to curb the use of flame retardant chemicals in consumer products, but it died in committee.

Chemical companies have said that flame retardants are safe and that they are necessary to prevent dangerous fires from igniting furniture.

“Regrettably, if this proposed regulation moves forward, it will reverse a fire safety standard that has provided an important layer of protection to Californians for over 35 years," said a spokesperson from the American Chemistry Council, an industry group. "Since the National Fire Protection Association reports that open flame sources are still a major cause of upholstered furniture fires, regulators in California should propose a standard that addresses this fire safety risk."

The proposal will go through a six-week public comment period before a final standard is adopted by the state agency.

Because California is such a large market for furniture, the original standard, known as Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117), created a de facto standard across the United States that led to use of flame retardants in most furniture cushions.

The new tests would involve mockups of cushions rather than tests of just foam. This would prompt the use of barrier materials and smolder-proof cover fabrics to prevent furniture from igniting. Similar materials already are used in Europe.

The changes will “address upholstery-covered fabric and the interaction between materials in a couch the way it would occur in a real-world fire," said Russ Heimerich, spokesman for California's department of Consumer Affairs, which houses the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation that will release the new draft.

He said it "fulfills Gov. Brown's vision with continuing to improve fire safety while reducing the use of flame retardant chemicals. We think this does as good or better as previous standards to ensure furniture won't burn readily."

About 85 percent of furniture on the market today already meets an upholstery smolder standard, according to a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that proposed a similar smolder standard in 2008 [PDF].

"It should reduce our everyday exposure to flame retardant chemicals if it passes." -Heather Stapleton, Duke University.  "These types of upholstery are not typically treated with flame retardants," said Heather Stapleton, who researches flame retardants at Duke University. "It should reduce our everyday exposure to flame retardant chemicals if it passes."

Arlene Blum, an environmental chemist with the University of California, Berkeley, has campaigned for years against flame retardants. She said she was "cautiously optimistic" about the new proposal.

The legacy of the old standard, however, will be felt for years since many people keep couches and other furniture for decades.

Sen. Mark Leno

Caifornia Senate

State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), has been pushing legislation to curb use of toxic chemicals in consumer products.

"Even with new regulations in place we still have the ongoing impact of these bio-pervasive and bioaccumulating chemicals, which will be with us for decades," Leno said. "This is only step one. It will hopefully stop the bleeding."

NRDC

Technical Bulletin 117 has led to widespread use of flame retardants, but the new draft would drop a requirement that caused their proliferation.

Because flame retardants are mixed into consumer products, rather than chemically bound, they can leach out and stick to dust particles that people can inhale.

A recent study found them in nearly all couches tested. In couches purchased before 2005, three out of every four contained flame retardants. For newer couches, 94 percent contained them, nearly all next-generation compounds with little known about their potential health effects.

Before 2005, a brominated flame retardant known as penta was used in most U.S. furniture. When it was banned because it was accumulating in people and wildlife around the world, newer chemicals came onto the market to help furniture meet TB 117. Scientists have struggled to keep pace with studying their health risks.

Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable, especially in California. California children have some of the world's highest-measured levels of flame retardants in their bodies. An ongoing study of California children has found that exposure during pregnancy or early childhood may lead to children with poorer attention, motor skills and IQ scores.


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## RJJ (Nov 29, 2013)

So do they have a proposed solution?


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## mark handler (Nov 29, 2013)

RJJ said:
			
		

> So do they have a proposed solution?


No, but after January people will have a choice


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## RJJ (Nov 29, 2013)

What type of choice would they have?


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## mark handler (Nov 29, 2013)

To buy products with or without flame retardants.

They will no longer be mandated.


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