Massachusetts Restricts Flame Retardants in Bedding ,Furniture, Window Treatments, Carpeting and Children’s Products

Massachusetts has enacted a law, Massachusetts House Bill H.4900, “An Act to Protect Children, Families, and Firefighters from Harmful Flame Retardants.”  The law restricts certain flame retardant chemicals in home products and restricts the chemicals used as follows: “A manufacturer or retailer shall not sell, offer or manufacture for sale, distribute a covered product, except for inventory manufactured prior to December 31, 2021, that contains any of the chemical flame retardants or a chemical analogue the total weight of which exceeds 1,000 ppm for any component part of the covered product.” 

Scope of products included under this state law are as follows: 
• Covered products: bedding (mattress pad, sheeting, pillow, comforter, blanket, sleeping bag or any other stuffed article for reclining or sleeping), 
• Window treatments (curtain, shades, blinds), 
• Carpeting (fabric floor covering including padding), 
• Residential upholstered furniture, seating or other upholstered products intended for indoor or outdoor use in or at a home or other dwelling intended for residential occupancy that consists in whole or in part of resilient cushioning materials enclosed within a covering consisting of fabric or other textile and 
• Children’s product, a consumer product intended made or marketed for use by children 12 years of age or under. 

The law specifically does not apply to motor vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles or any component parts or the sale or purchase any previously owned product containing a chemical flame retardant prohibited.  The law also does not apply to covered products that contain the prohibited chemicals due to the presence of recycled materials used during the manufacture of the product. 

The following chemical flame retardants are restricted under this law:
• Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP);
• Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), 
• Antimony trioxide, 
• Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD);
• Bis(2-Ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH), 
• 2-EthylhexY1-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (TBB),
• Chlorinated paraffins, 
• Tris (1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate (TCPP), 
• PentaBDE, 
• OctaBDE,  
• Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) 

It is also mandatory that a manufacturer of a covered product which contains one of these prohibited chemical flame retardants shall provide notice to retailers, and other persons, that a product contains a chemical included in this list on or before July 1, 2021. 

To view the law:  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H4900 

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