NHTSA Urged to Get Toxic Flame Retardant Chemicals Out of Cars

Consumer Reports Delivers Over 32,000 Petition Signatures and Letter Signed by More Than 70 Organizations Calling on Federal Auto Safety Agency to Protect the Public from Toxic Chemicals Linked to Serious Health Problems

WASHINGTON, DC – Consumer Reports (CR), the Green Science Policy Institute, and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) today delivered more than 32,000 petition signatures to the headquarters of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), calling on the agency to update its outdated flammability standard for car interiors and child car seats. Currently, to meet this standard, manufacturers add harmful flame retardant chemicals to seat foam and other materials. These include chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer, and they are also linked to reproductive and neurological harms. 

A May 2024 peer-reviewed study by Duke University, Green Science Policy Institute, and University of Toronto researchers found that the air inside all 101 personal vehicles tested was polluted with harmful flame retardants. CR is among the more than 70 organizations that today sent a letter to NHTSA calling on the agency to launch an effort to update its 1971 flammability standard for vehicle interiors, FMVSS No. 302, and consider replacing the current flammability testing with a different type of test that does not lead to the use of harmful chemicals in vehicles. 

William Wallace, associate director of safety policy for Consumer Reports, said, “There are alternatives that can protect consumers from fires inside their cars, while sparing them the health harms of toxic chemical exposure. NHTSA should immediately launch an effort to update its outdated flammability standard for the interiors of our cars and child car seats.”

Every day, people are exposed to cancer-causing and neurotoxic flame retardants inside their cars. Infants and children, whose brains and bodies are still developing, are particularly vulnerable. According to the May 2024 study, the most prevalent flame retardant, tris (1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), was found in 99% of tested cars and is currently under study by the National Toxicology Program as a carcinogen. Other flame retardants detected in cars are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and/or neurotoxins, and persist and accumulate in the body over time.

“Everyone who rides in a car is needlessly exposed to cancer-causing, neurotoxic flame retardant chemicals because of an outdated flammability standard,” according to Arlene Blum, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute. “It is time for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to modernize their 1971 standard so we can have cars that are both fire-safe and healthy.”

The Green Science Policy Institute has highlighted that there is a lack of data demonstrating a fire safety benefit from meeting the FMVSS 302 standard. In a recent statement, IAFF also said that “… these harmful chemicals do little to prevent fires for most uses and instead make the blazes smokier and more toxic for victims, and especially for first responders.”

In addition to the thousands of consumers who signed the petition, leading toxicologist Linda Birnbaum and renowned Boston firefighter Jay Fleming publicly called on NHTSA to reevaluate the standard. “With improved flammability standards and vehicle design, we can better protect people from both fire and chemical hazards,” they concluded in a joint commentary.

NHTSA could follow California’s lead, which in 2013 replaced an outdated open-flame flammability test for upholstered furniture with a smolder test that doesn’t require the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals. The revised standard, which has been adopted at the federal level, maintains or modestly increases fire safety without the need for flame retardants in furniture and most children’s products. Similarly, reducing flame retardant exposure can be done in the automotive industry, prioritizing consumer safety and well-being. 

“Switching from one flame retardant to another will only perpetuate the problem. Instead, FMVSS 302 should be updated to reflect current fire statistics, vehicle technologies, and knowledge of flame retardant health harms,” said Lydia Jahl, senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute.

CR has also called on NHTSA to reduce kids’ exposure to flame retardant chemicals in child car seats, which must meet FMVSS 302 requirements. While progress is being made, a 2022 study conducted by the Ecology Center’s Healthy Stuff lab found that many car seats, especially those at lower price points, still contain hazardous chemicals. According to CR analysis of the current marketplace, buying an infant car seat with no flame retardants costs, on average, about $100 more. 

“It’s vitally important to always use a properly installed child safety seat when transporting a child by car,” said Wallace. “At the same time, every child deserves protection from hazardous chemicals, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances or the price of their child seat.”

Learn about how to reduce individual exposure, as well as recommendations on reducing flame retardant chemicals in vehicles for automobile manufacturers, NHTSA, and other policymakers, here.

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Media Contact: Emily Akpan, emily.akpan@consumer.org