I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2934 
To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to ban 
flame retardant chemicals from use in resilient filling materials in chil-
dren’s products. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2013 
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. MOORE, Ms. SLAUGH-
TER, Mr. RANGEL, and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 
of 2008 to ban flame retardant chemicals from use in 
resilient filling materials in children’s products. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Decrease Unsafe Tox-
ins Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Consumer Product Safety Improvement 
Act of 2008 establishes safety requirements for chil-
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dren’s products. The Act identifies lead and 
phthalates as chemicals of concern to be reduced or 
eliminated in children’s products due to their tox-
icity. Certain flame retardants used in children’s 
products should also be considered banned haz-
ardous substances and eliminated from use in resil-
ient filling materials in certain cushioned children’s 
products. 
(2) Organohalogen and organophosphorous 
flame retardants are used in some children’s cush-
ioned products to meet various flammability stand-
ards. In a 2011 study published in Environmental 
Science and Technology, over 80 percent of the chil-
dren’s cushioned products tested were found to con-
tain at least one flame retardant chemical. 
(3) Children in the United States have some of 
the highest levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers 
(PBDEs) in their bodies globally. In fact, toddlers 
have three times the blood levels of their mothers of 
the toxic flame retardant pentaBDE. 
(4) Research has shown that flame retardants 
have been associated with cancer, immune, and en-
docrine disruption, developmental impairment, birth 
defects, 
and 
reproductive 
dysfunction. 
Organohalogen 
and 
organophosphorous 
flame 
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retardants are often toxic, and are associated with 
reduced IQ (similar to lead poisoning), hyperactivity, 
reduced fertility, birth defects, and hormonal 
changes. 
(5) According to the Federal Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, infants and children 
are especially vulnerable to exposure to flame 
retardants through ingestion of contaminated dust 
via hand-to-mouth contact. Children crawl and play 
on floors, put objects in their mouths, and are gen-
erally closer to the ground where dust settles. 
(6) Flame retardant chemicals in children’s 
cushioned products are unnecessary. Studies show 
that there is no measurable fire safety benefit to 
California’s Furniture Flammability Standard Tech-
nical Bulletin (TB117). Also, these products contain 
small amounts of resilient filling material compared 
to adult upholstered furniture, and thus do not 
present a significant fire hazard as a fuel source. 
(7) Strollers, infant carriers, and nursing pil-
lows have been exempt from California’s TB117 
since 2010 and the proposed revision of California’s 
Flammability Standard (TB117–2013) includes a 
provision to exempt 17 more baby and infant prod-
ucts from the standard. This is due to the State 
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agency’s understanding that these products do not 
present a significant fire hazard. 
(8) Banning the use of flame retardant chemi-
cals in children’s products would help reduce unnec-
essary health risks to children associated with expo-
sure to chemicals that do not add a fire safety ben-
efit. 
SEC. 3. BAN ON FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICALS IN THE RE-
SILIENT FILLING MATERIALS IN CERTAIN 
CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Consumer Product 
Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–314) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 109. BAN ON FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICALS IN THE 
RESILIENT FILLING MATERIALS IN CHIL-
DREN’S PRODUCTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any children’s cushioned prod-
uct that is manufactured on or after the date that is one 
year after the date of the enactment of the Decrease Un-
safe Toxins Act that contains more than 1,000 parts per 
million flame retardant chemical by weight in the filling 
material used to make such product shall be treated as 
a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Haz-
ardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.). 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.— 
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