Ditching old furniture lowers toxic flame retardants in blood: Study

A decade-long study conducted by the California Department of Public Health and environmental organizations, including the Environmental Working Group (EWG), has found that removing older foam-based furniture from homes can significantly reduce toxic flame retardants in the human body. The research focused on two major classes of flame retardants—polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs)—commonly used in upholstered furniture from the 1970s through the mid-2010s. PBDEs, linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, thyroid disease, and reproductive harm, were found to migrate from furniture into household dust, posing particular risks to infants and young children who come into contact with contaminated dust. The study tracked blood and household dust samples from participants over 10 years and revealed that PBDE levels in blood dropped by about half within 1.4 years after removing older furniture, with reductions occurring two to four times faster than in those who did not