Toxic couches? Flame retardants on the rise in furniture, study finds.

Toxic couches? Flame retardants on the rise in furniture, study finds.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2012/toxic-couches

"Flame retardants in U.S. furniture are on the rise, with a new study finding them in nearly all couches tested. The findings, published today, confirm that household furniture remains a major source of a variety of flame retardants, some of which have been building up in people's bodies and in the environment. In the new tests, three out of every four couches purchased before 2005 contained the chemicals, with a now-banned compound in 39 percent. For newer couches, 94 percent contained flame retardants, nearly all next-generation compounds with little known about their potential health effects. "More furniture appears to be treated with flame retardants today than, say, 15 years ago," said Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist at Duke University and lead author of the project."