On October 24, 2017, the San Francisco board of supervisors has passed an environmental amendment bill on the prohibition of ‘Flame Retardant Chemicals in Upholstered Furniture and Juvenile Products ordinance’. On November 3, the mayor of San Francisco in the US state of California signed into law, and the new law would take effect after one month later.

The focus of the new law is as follows:

1.  Starting from January 01, 2019, the following products are prohibited from selling flame retardants  in  San Francisco to more than 1,000 mg/kg:

     ※Upholstered furniture

     ※Reupholstered furniture

     ※Juvenile product

2.  The above ban applies to electronic components from July 1, 2019.

3.  Products that are exempted by the act are as follows：

     ※Used or second-hand furniture (not reupholstered furniture )

     ※Used or second-hand juvenile products

Coincidentally, the standard of GB/T 33734-2017 ‘woven baby bedding’ will come into force on December 1, 2017 in China, the schedule is two days earlier than that of the ban on flame retardant in San Francisco, California. It depicts clearly that the deed to deal the products with flame retardant is not necessary for the purpose on protecting the health of infants.

Flame retardants, a sort of chemical substance, are used to prevent, delay or terminate the flame propagation, thereby reaching the purpose of flame resistance. As it known to all, the common polymer material in life is so easy to burn that it is necessary to solve the flame retardant problem when applied to transportation, construction, electricity and other industries. However, because the flame retardant is a chemical agent and is suspected to cause mental and behavioral effects or harm to children, so a limit starts in some areas.

Note:

Juvenile product means a new product, not contained by the ‘Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Act ‘, and designed for residential use by infants and children under 12 years of age, including but not limited to a bassinet, booster seat, changing pad, floor play mat, highchair, highchair pad, infant bouncer, infant carrier, infant seat, infant swing, infant walker, nursing pad, nursing pillow, playpen side pad, play yard, portable hook-on chair, stroller and children’s nap mat.

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