flame retardant ban

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Seems Minnesota lawmakers found it hard to ignore an actual burning sofa. Governor Mark Dayton has just signed the law banning four flame retardants in MN, the strictest flame retardants ban in the country. The House sponsor of the new law was Rep. Jeff Howe, a onetime firefighter fighting to protect fellow heroes from extra-toxic smoke due to flame retardants.

The victory, however, is bittersweet, as the original bill had 10 chemicals on the list. To get it through the House, six chemicals were dropped.

Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville), chief sponsor in the state Senate, said he was disappointed the bill was watered down but pleased they could agree to something. "Our firefighters deserve better than this, but this is a significant step forward," said Marty, who plans to accept the House changes when the bill makes it back to the Senate.

"I'm tremendously disappointed today that we don't have more of the chemicals on this list. I can't even believe it," said Susan Shaw, DrPH, professor in the department of public health at the State University of New York–Albany and director and founder of the Marine and Environmental Research Institute.

Lighting the Spark for Change
The spark for the bill was set when St. Paul firefighters Chris Parsons, president of Minnesota Professional Fire Fighters, and Pete Gutzmann demonstrated that flame retardants don't improve fire safety by staging a mock home fire.

"They had a couch with a flame retardant label on it and held a torch to it. The couch went up in about 45 seconds, and within a minute and a half, thick, black smoke filled the room," described Abby Simmons, reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The firefighters then showed the layer of soot and residue on their masks and said, "This is what's killing firefighters."

More From Rodale News: 8 Sickening Facts About Flame Retardants

Health Up in Smoke
"These flame retardants are dangerous for the general public, but they're especially dangerous for firefighters because when they burn, they give off highly carcinogenic furans and dioxins," said Parsons.

In fact, more than half of job-related deaths for career firefighters are from cancer, according to Shaw. She points out that increases in blood, respiratory, and digestive cancers parallel the increases in usage of chemical flame retardants.

Before their adoption, former firefighter Rep. Jeff Howe, one of the authors of the bill, had been in favor of flame retardants. "We firmly believed we could make homes safer by reducing the speed by which some of this upholstered furniture burned, giving fire departments more time to get there before the fire went to flashover," Howe said to SCTimes. But that isn't what's happened. Instead "we're making the smoke that it creates more toxic."

Parsons further points out that the high heat plus toxic smoke is a double whammy for fire fighters, saying that every five-degree rise in temperature increases the rate of skin absorption of what's in the air by 400 percent. "What happens is our skin pores open up and we absorb whatever toxic gases are present in the room," he said.

More From Rodale News: 8 Weird Places Scientists Have Found Flame Retardants

The Opposition Turns Up the Heat
While the original 10-chemical list passed through the Minnesota Senate, it stalled in the state House after pushback from the American Chemistry Council and North American Flame Retardant Alliance. Tony Kwilas, director of environmental policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, stood against the bill saying that there's no "one-size-fits-all" approach. Other opponents said that it's impossible to pinpoint cancer as from flame retardants since other materials can give off toxic fumes when they burn, too.

Celebrating Progress, Even Without a Total Victory
While passing the bill came at a price, supporters are still seeing progress  "We are leaving off the list six carcinogenic flame retardants, so in that regards, I'm not pleased about it," said Parsons. "But does it move the conversation further, does it get us closer to our goal? Yes. In the meantime will firefighters continue to be exposed? That, I'm not happy about."

Protect your family and your local firefighters by buying flame retardant–free furniture, now availble from select nationwide brands.