Sustainable Furnishings Council 10 Year Anniversary Event

On October 21st, the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) celebrated their tenth anniversary, an event that hosted over 500 members and friends of the SFC and marked ten years of efforts to help furniture companies “reduce their environmental footprint” and consumers furnish their homes with healthier materials. To mark a decade of diligence, the SFC announced its partnership with Healthy Materials Lab, the Center for Environmental Health, and the American Sustainable Business Council to launch a new environmental health initiative: “What’s it made of?” The new initiative encourages the elimination of hazardous substances often found in residential furniture by asking manufacturers to inquire about the properties in the materials they use and the products that they make.

Recognizing the correlation between design and health, Healthy Materials Lab is proud to join forces with like-minded organizations to further the cause:

The organizations, leaders in the call for environmental health consciousness in the furniture industry, have worked together to create a pledge for designers and manufacturers to avoid chemicals of concern. Those that signed pledged to ask “What’s it made of?”, declaring their preference for products free from five key hazardous chemicals: flame retardants, PVC, fluorinated stain treatments, antimicrobials, and VOCs including formaldehyde. The focus on these five chemicals was based on research about the chemicals’ impact on human health and their prevalence in the furniture industry.

• Flame retardants are often found in furniture foam because of a 1975 California standard that required their use. Since then, studies have found that flame retardants used in furniture are linked to health problems including hormone disruption, lowered IQs, and cancer. Although California updated their furniture standard in 2014 to no longer require the use of flame retardants, many manufacturers still include them.

• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), more colloquially known as vinyl, has two forms — rigid and pliable — which are both commonly used in furniture construction. Rigid PVC is especially prevalent in outdoor furniture. The more pliable form, created with the addition of phthalates, is used in household products like upholstery fabrics, imitation leather, inflatable products like stow-away mattresses, wallpaper, and flooring. The production and combustion of PVC emits dioxins, a potent carcinogen which is linked to impairment of the immune system, the developing nervous system, the endocrine system and reproductive functions. In its pliable form, with the addition of phthalates, these dangers are only increased.

• Fluorinated stain treatments, common in upholstered furniture and carpeting, are a part of a broader class of chemicals known as highly fluorinated chemicals (PFAs). Man-made and nearly impossible to break down, these chemicals have been found to linger in the environment indefinitely. They have been identified not only in humans but also in biota all over the planet — a proliferation that is of great concern. In humans, these chemicals have been linked to significant health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, developmental effects during pregnancy, thyroid disruption, elevated total cholesterol, and obesity. Manufacturing these chemicals in the US was phased out by major chemical companies, but they are still manufactured in other countries and are found in many consumer products like cookware, clothing, and food packaging.

• Antimicrobials, like triclosan and triclocarban, can be absorbed through the skin. Found in household objects used daily, including mattresses and furniture fabric, antimicrobials are unsurprisingly detected in most Americans. They are a special cause of concern as they have been associated with adverse endocrine, thyroid, and reproductive changes and their use can lead to resistant strains of bacteria.
  
  

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a group of chemicals that are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. They are widely used in household products such as paints, adhesives, and cleaning agents. One of these chemicals, formaldehyde, is used in composite wood products and certain glues and fabrics prevalent in the furniture industry. Exposure to formaldehyde can lead to irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat; high levels may even cause certain kinds of cancer. [3]

While it may take time to research the full effects of these chemicals, find alternatives, and create policies to regulate their use, Healthy Materials Lab believes the first step is transparency. Industry professionals must demand to know what their products are made of so that they can make informed decisions about the products they design and manufacture. By signing the “What’s it made of?” pledge, over 300 people in the furniture industry have shown their commitment to taking tangible steps to make our world safer and healthier for everyone.

Sign the pledge here and be a part of the conversation. If you have any questions, we and our partners stand ready to help.

[1] http://greensciencepolicy.org/…
[2] https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic…
[3] https://www.epa.gov/formaldehy…