Flame retardants in furniture: the label answers it

SB 1019 requires the label to indicate whether a covered product contains added flame retardant chemicals, by checking the box beside either "contains added flame retardant chemicals" or "contains NO added flame retardant chemicals". Manufacturers must retain documentation supporting whichever box they check — a written affidavit from the supplier of each component attesting that flame retardants were or were not added is sufficient documentation.

That is an unusually clean piece of consumer information: a binary claim, printed on the product, with a paper trail behind it.

The label law followed Technical Bulletin 117-2013, California's revised flammability standard, which replaced an open-flame test for upholstered furniture with a smolder test. The standard does not prohibit the use of added chemicals — but many companies found they could meet the smolder test without them.

That is the crucial mechanism. Before 2013, meeting the standard essentially required treating foam. After 2013, it did not, which is why "contains NO added flame retardant chemicals" became a box manufacturers could honestly check. The change is why this problem is substantially solvable by shopping rather than by a hazmat response.

1. Find the law tag. On a sofa it is usually under a cushion or beneath the frame; on a mattress it is sewn to a side panel.
2. Look for the two statements with checkboxes. One will be marked.
3. "Contains NO added flame retardant chemicals" is the one you want.
4. If there is no tag, the item may predate the requirement or may not be a covered product. Ask the retailer.
5. Do not accept a website claim over the tag. The tag is the regulated statement.

Pre-2013 foam furniture is the category most likely to contain added flame retardants, and the honest answer is that replacing a functional sofa over it is a large expense for a modest return. More useful, and much cheaper: keep foam enclosed — a torn cushion cover releasing foam crumb is a worse situation than intact upholstery — vacuum regularly, since household dust is a meaningful exposure route, and wash hands before eating, which is the standard advice for dust-borne exposures generally.

When a piece does reach the end of its life, that is the moment to apply this page.

Mattresses are the category where the no-added-flame-retardant option is most available and most clearly certified. Wool is the common natural barrier: it meets flammability requirements without added chemicals, and the better brands state exactly that alongside their other certifications.

Several products hold GOTS finished-product certification, MADE SAFE and GREENGUARD Gold simultaneously, which makes this the one furniture category where you can verify rather than trust.

Mattresses using wool as the flame barrier, with certification behind the claim.