FAMILY HEALTH
Is Your Furniture Safe
For Your Children?
Environmental Working Group
In the first study to investigate children’s exposure to six fire
retardant chemicals, scientists from EWG and Duke University
have found evidence of exposure to a cancer-causing fire
retardant, TDCIPP, in the bodies of all 22 mothers and 26
children tested. The children had an average of nearly five
times as much as the mothers of a chemical formed when
TDCIPP breaks down in the body. In the most extreme
case, a child had 23 times the level measured in the mother.
Because fire retardants are in many consumer products such
as furniture cushions and are nearly impossible to avoid
completely, we put together this list of tips to help you and
your family limit your exposure:
Do your homework before buying baby products. Many
kinds of baby products have been exempted from re