Monday, March 27, 2017

New Findings on the Relationship between Flame Retardants and Kids



Many of our customers connect with us specifically because they are concerned about buying furniture that comes with the assurance: Safe for the family.

It is for that reason that we always have our finger on the pulse of the latest health information. I have written previously about the issue of flame retardants in furniture before from legislation to the evolution of its use (in response to tobacco related fires). We were also mentioned in a Dr. Oz segment exploring the hazards of chemicals in furniture and manufacturers who shun them

Now, there are new findings to share with you and they are concerning.

A March 2017 study conducted by researchers at Oregon State University has found a connection between pre-school children exposed to common flame retardant chemicals and behavioral issues.

 A complete abstract was published in the Environmental Health journal, titled “Cross-sectional study of social behaviors in preschool children and exposure to flame retardants.” The stated objective was to determine if “flame retardant exposure was associated with measurable differences in social behaviors among children ages 3–5 years.”

Conclusions indicated that children with higher flame retardant exposures “exhibited poorer social skills in three domains that play an important role in a child’s ability to succeed academically and socially.”

One of the authors of the paper, Molly Kile, an environmental epidemiologist, stated, “When we analyzed behavior assessments and exposure levels, we observed that the children who had more exposure to certain types of the flame retardant were more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviors such as aggression, defiance, hyperactivity, inattention and bullying.”