A new study by researchers at Duke and North Carolina State universities found that Firemaster 550—a flame-retardant chemical mixture added to the polyurethane foam used in many mattresses, sofas and other products—causes cardiovascular problems, extreme weight gain and developmental issues in lab rats. These health problems were observed even when rats were given very small doses comparable to the amounts that humans who have furniture containing Firemaster 550 might ingest in the form of household dust. That made me wonder if I owned anything containing Firemaster 550. Unfortunately, that’s hard to tell, says Heather Patisaul, PhD, assistant professor of biology at North Carolina State University and lead author of the paper describing the study. Firemaster 550 typically isn’t disclosed on labels or on makers’ Web sites.
As a rule, however, if you have any furniture made in the past decade or two that contains foam, it’s likely that it contains some sort of chemical fire retardant—and Firemaster 550 is far from the first of these to be suspected of causing health problems. One clue: If foam furniture has a label or tag reading “Compliant with California Technical Bulletin 117,” it almost certainly contains a flame retardant.
There’s not enough evidence yet to get rid of foam furniture. But if you’re shopping for anything that could contain foam padding, lean toward products with polyester-fill padding—which tends not to include fire-retardant chemicals—rather than polyurethane foam, which usually does.
