When Furniture Attacks: 3 Ways to Limit Exposure to Flame Retardant Chemicals

Written by:

John Goss

01/29/2014

Updated: 01/11/2024

Looking for a different product guide? Browse them all HERE.

By now, you’ve seen the headlines warning that sitting is harmful to your health. I have no doubt that the couch-potato/cubicle lifestyle has numerous ill effects. But in reality your sofa has a far more sinister and dangerous nature, and it is not alone in its desire to do you harm. Yes, dear reader, your sofa has allies. It is just one of a group of household items that plots against you and your family!

My couch offers me a comfortable berth from which I can elevate “sloth” to an art form, but that is actually just the beginning of the damage this inanimate object causes. As it turns out sofas, beds and other furnishings are akin to the Venus Flytrap. Like the infamous carnivorous flower, our furniture offers us something attractive, something we want, but like the unwary fly, once we go there, we are subjected to a chemical dowsing that is unhealthy at best and even deadly! Unlike insects trapped in a fatal chemical bath, we are able to stand up and move away, but the invisible chemical mist our sofas dispense follows us throughout our home. The chemicals in question? Legally-mandated flame retardants.

Our Top Pick For a Non-Toxic Mattress

Happsy

Happsy is the best non-toxic mattress-in-a-box option on the market, and comes with a 120-day trial period. Happsy is manufactured by Naturepedic, but is a more affordable option, while still getting high marks for comfort. When it’s time to replace my kids’ mattresses, this is the brand I plan to purchase.

Happsy is certified by GOTS, GOLS, and GreenGuard. Queens go for $1,399.

Use code GIMME225 for $225 off mattresses. (With this discount, Happsy is the most affordable Best Stuff mattress.)

Think that you can escape by retreating to the bedroom? Forget it…your mattress is in league with your couch, as are your curtains, and your carpet, and your electrical cords…and much more. Each of these items continuously sheds a variety of chemicals into the air and thus into the lungs of every breathing thing in your home.

Flame-retardants are, by law, applied to nearly every potentially flammable furnishing in your home.  They include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE’s), which have now been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and lower IQs in children.

Well, a little chemical exposure is better than burning up…right?

Maybe, except those chemical additives won’t actually prevent your furniture from burning. This, from an article in Scientific American

Deception and intrigue led to a 1970s regulation that prompted the injection of chemicals into home furniture, stemming from a distortion of scientific findings that suggested flame-retardants would be more effective at reducing sofa fires than they really are. In reality, retardants provide no meaningful protection, a finding uncovered in a 2012 investigative series by The Chicago Tribune and highlighted in a recent documentary Toxic Hot Seat

Felix, 4, enjoys his new couch, free of flame retardant chemicals!

But there is good news!

The “Nanny State” is finally on the case!  As of 2014, California has changed its laws concerning the use of flame-retardants in household items. This makes it possible to perhaps someday purchase furnishings that are free of PBDE’s (California is the state that mandated the use of such chemicals to begin with).

Unfortunately, analysts don’t foresee the problems with PBDE exposure going away any time soon. That’s because PBDE’s are so widely distributed that it will take decades before all those old furnishings to be replaced.

There are, however, important steps you can take to protect yourself and your family from excessive PBDE exposure.

  1. Don’t sweep. Vacuum daily, or use a wet mop.. Sweeping sends invisible plumes of accumulated PBDE’s back up into the air.
  2. Don’t bring more flame retardants in. While not everyone has the budget to replace all home furnishings at once, when it’s time to get something new, go for one of the few companies that make flame-retardant free upholstered items. We help clients do just that through our Healthy Home consults. If you have children, replace their mattresses first. Check out our Safe Mattress Guide to be sure you avoid the Sneaky Stuff.
  3. Eat more plants. PBDEs accumulate in fats–highest levels are found in poultry (even organic), and they are also present in cheese and beef. Eating less meat and dairy will cut your exposure.

The modern world presents us with a variety of health challenges that are of our own making. Luckily, if we stay aware and take action there is a lot we can do to stay healthy, happy, and mildly sane.

Stay sane,

John, Certified Holistic Health Coach

Note: This article contains affiliate links or sponsored content, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that meet our strict standards for non-toxicity and that we use (or want to use!) ourselves. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Good Stuff! 

Enjoying this guide?

Join the 60,000 families who rely on our free non toxic product reviews to buy everything from milk to mattresses!
Subscribe
Naturepedic Verse Organic Kids Mattress from Gimme the Good Stuff 005

Are Serta Mattresses Toxic?

Posted on
Serta makes a wide variety of mattresses that use a wide variety of materials. This includes everything from polyurethane foam to memory foam to “natural” latex foam. Serta’s products, while improved…

Best Non-Toxic Mattress Shopping Guide

Posted on
Written by Maia & John Finding the best non-toxic mattress is super-important because it’s a big financial investment. It can also be very confusing to sort through all of the…

2023 Non-Toxic Sofa Brands Guide

Posted on
Welcome to the latest version of our complete guide to finding eco-friendly, non-toxic sofa brands. I was once a guest on The Dr. Oz Show with a toxicologist from Yale…

Leave a Reply

  1. Edge Avatar
    Edge

    Hi.

    I’ve been trying to find out whether covering a sofa with say an organic wool blanket helps to reduce the emission of harmful chemicals from a sofa. I cannot currently replace my sofa so I’m trying to find alternative means to reduce the chemical load in my home.

    I understand wool, cotton, etc breathes. Does this mean the chemicals in the sofas will seep through the wool blanket and make little difference?

    The old blanket I currently use to cover my sofa is made of fleece. It’s my understanding fleece is generally made from plastic. Is this as bad as the chemicals from the sofa?

    Also, I have had my sofa for 10 years. Why is it that chemicals continue to seep from furniture? Is the amount of chemicals minimal after ten years?

    Thank you.

  2. Edge Avatar
    Edge

    Hi.

    I’ve been trying to find out whether covering a sofa with say an organic wool blanket helps to reduce the emission of harmful chemicals from a sofa. I cannot currently replace my sofa so I’m trying to find alternative means to reduce the chemical load in my home.

    I understand wool, cotton, etc breathes. Does this mean the chemicals in the sofas will seep through the wool blanket and make little difference?

    The old blanket I currently use to cover my sofa is made of fleece. It’s my understanding fleece is generally made from plastic. Is this as bad as the chemicals from the sofa?

    Also, I have had my sofa for 10 years. Why is it that chemicals continue to seep from furniture? Is the amount of chemicals minimal after ten years?

    Thank you.

    Edge.

  3. Sue baker Avatar
    Sue baker

    I bought a nectar mattress. its making me itch like crazy. they use fiberglass in their propriety sock fire retardant. I believe the sock was defective and I now have fiberglass throughout my house. trying to by a mattress with the information of whats in their no chemical fire retardant is impossible. I think I rather sleep in chemicals than this itchy fiberglass. I’m allergic to latex, and I’m having same symptoms. I’m also wandering if their latex in mattress and their not being honest about ingredients.

  4. Mallory cash Avatar
    Mallory cash

    Great article! I’ve been wondering about my curtains. There is no mention of flame retardants on the labels and I can’t seem to find information online. Is there anyway to test the fabric to find out it they are treated with anything?