Toxic chemicals in popular British furniture could be lowering our IQs

17 December 2023 , 09:48

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Chemicals sprayed onto our sofas have been linked to all kinds of impacts on our health, experts warn (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Vegging out in front of the telly could reduce your IQ thanks to all of the toxic chemicals in people’s sofas.

Experts have warned that exposure to these chemicals could slowly be making us stupid, as well as having a whole host of other impacts on our health. It is all thanks to health and safety laws dating back to the late 1980s.

In 1988 the government ruled that all sofas must be covered in flame retardant chemicals to stop the spread of fires. The move followed the horrific Manchester Woolworths blaze in 1979 – which killed 10. Fire investigators identified flammable polyurethane foam in the store’s furniture stock, and the thick toxic smoke it produced, as key contributors to the incident’s severity.

Now all furniture must pass an open flame test where a lit bunsen burner is placed next to it, the Daily Star reports. The only way to pass this test is for the furniture to be covered in toxic flame retardant chemicals. But campaigners have been calling on the government to change the laws for new furniture.

Environmental health expert Prof Frank Kelly, of Imperial College in London, said: "The problem is they have been shown to be very toxic and lead to a whole range of issues." In the US safety campaigners have been battling for years for the removal of the toxic flame retardants from furniture. Campaigners warn that the chemicals, sprayed onto the foam inside furniture, can become dust which is then breathed in or ingested by adults and children.

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“There are concerns about endocrine disruption and neurotoxic effects, especially for pregnant women and children,” Asa Bradman, associate director of the Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health at the University of California, Berkeley told Time magazine. “Several studies suggest associations between exposure to some flame retardants and poorer neurodevelopment in children,” he added.

In 2015 a new test was introduced in the states where a lit cigarette is left on furniture for 45 minutes and the test fails if it goes up in flames. In 2019 a UK Environmental Audit Committee report, backed by multiple MPs, called for an end to the use of flame retardants and a move to the US system.

Sophie Papamavroudi