Your Couch May Be Killing You

[Willinois]

Something from Mother Jones to brighten up your day...

Your Couch May Be Killing You

Quote:A new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found that 85 percent of the sofas researchers tested contained flame retardant chemicals that have been identified as carcinogens and potential neurotoxins. The stats were even worse for newer couches—those made after 2005: 93 percent of those contained chemicals that were either confirmed toxic or had not yet been tested adequately enough to know if they pose a risk. The chemicals accounted for as much as 11 percent of the weight of the foam in the cushions, they found.

Manufacturers use 3.4 billion pounds of flame-retardant chemicals in couches, insulation, carpet padding, and electronics every year to, in theory, prevent them from catching fire. But studies have found that the chemicals aren't actually effective and only make the fumes from fires more toxic.

"Petty much everyone in the country with a couch or a chair with foam have as much as a pound of a chemical like DDT or PCB in their home," Dr. Arlene Blum, the executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute and a coauthor of the paper, told Mother Jones. "Most people think the goverment protects them, and that if something's in their couch it must be safe." (Blum's flame retardant work was the subject of an excellent New York Times profile in September.)

[azmouse]

I thought this was going to be about how sitting on our asses too long and not being active is bad for us. It is, and these chemicals in the sofa cushions sure are adding to health problems.
Makes me wonder what other dangerous chemicals are in our homes that we don't know about.