US Legislation Update: Flame Retardants in Consumer Products

March 18, 2018

A number of states in the US have introduced bills to restrict certain flame retardants in consumer products. The scope of products and types of flame retardant are jurisdiction dependent.

SAFEGUARDS | Consumer Products NO. 031/18

Additive flame retardants (Additive-FRs) are non-chemically binding substances that are added to a wide variety of household products such as bedding, childcare articles, clothing, electrical and electronic equipment, furniture, mattresses, paints/coatings and residential textiles. They are added to materials such as plastics, foams and textiles to prevent fires from starting and to limit the spread of fires.

Over the years, the use of flame retardants has increasingly been restricted or prohibited due to their toxicity effects and negative impacts to the environment. In the US, a host of jurisdictions across the nation regulate flame retardants in consumer products, including the Federal Government, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, San Francisco (California), Vermont, Washington and Washington D.C. The restricted or prohibited flame retardants and the scope of regulated products are specific to each of these jurisdictions. Additionally, the states of Maine, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington require disclosure information on some flame retardants in certain children’s products.

Since the beginning of 2018, a number of states have introduced bills to restrict flame retardants in a variety of products. These include, inter alia, bedding, children’s products, electronic enclosures, mattresses and upholstered furniture.

Highlights of these proposals are summarized in Table 1.

Jurisdiction	Citation	Flame Retardant	Scope	Requirement	Effective Date
California	AB 2998 [1]	Flame retardant chemical or mixture	Juvenile products Mattresses Upholstered or reupholstered furniture	≤ 0.1%	January 1, 2020
Connecticut	Raised bill. 305 [2]	Flame retardant	Children’s products or upholsteredresidential furniture	Labelling required if > 1000 ppm	October 1, 2018
Indiana	HB 1219 [3]	Flame retardant chemical or mixture	Mattresses Mattress pads Upholstered furniture	≤ 0.1%	July 1, 2018
Maryland	HB 84 [4]	Deca-BDE HBCD TBBPA TCEP TDCPP	Childcare products for children under the age of 12	≤ 0.1% each FR (Regulations for implementations to be adopted by January 1, 2019)
New Hampshire	HB 1214 [5]	Flame retardant	Upholstered furniture	≤ 0.1%	January 1, 2019
New Jersey	A1362 [6]	A list of 10 defined FRs	Children’s products Upholstered furniture	≤ 0.1% each FR	First day of the seventh month after enactment
New York	A9964 [7]	Organohalogen flame retardants	Childcare products for children aged three or younger	Prohibited	July 1, 2019
Virginia	HB 951 [8]	A list of defined FRs in subsection B	Children’s products Upholstered furniture	Prohibited	July 1, 2019
Washington	HB 2632 [9]	Organohalogen flame retardants	Children’s products Electronic enclosures Mattresses Residential upholstered furniture	≤ 1000 ppm	July 1, 2020

Table 1

Throughout our global network of laboratories, we are able to provide a range of services, including analytical testing and consultancy for flame retardants in consumer products for the US and international markets.

Next step:

Stakeholders are advised to comply with the latest requirements for flame retardants for the US market.

For enquiries, please contact:

Hingwo Tsang
Global Information and Innovation Manager
t: +852 2774 7420

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