[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2934 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 
                          children's products.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2013

    Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Moore, Ms. 
  Slaughter, 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Decrease Unsafe Toxins Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 
        establishes safety requirements for children's products. The 
        Act identifies lead and phthalates as chemicals of concern to 
        be reduced or eliminated in children's products due to their 
        toxicity. Certain flame retardants used in children's products 
        should also be considered banned hazardous substances and 
        eliminated from use in resilient filling materials in certain 
        cushioned children's products.
            (2) Organohalogen and organophosphorous flame retardants 
        are used in some children's cushioned products to meet various 
        flammability standards. In a 2011 study published in 
        Environmental Science and Technology, over 80 percent of the 
        children's cushioned products tested were found to contain 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 endocrine disruption, 
        developmental impairment, birth defects, and reproductive 
        dysfunction. Organohalogen and organophosphorous flame 
        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 Disease 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 generally 
        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 Technical 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 pillows 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 products 
        from the standard. This is due to the State agency's 
        understanding that these products do not present a significant 
        fire hazard.
            (8) Banning the use of flame retardant chemicals in 
        children's products would help reduce unnecessary health risks 
        to children associated with exposure to chemicals that do not 
        add a fire safety benefit.

SEC. 3. BAN ON FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICALS IN THE RESILIENT 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 CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Any children's cushioned product that is 
manufactured on or after the date that is one year after the date of 
the enactment of the Decrease Unsafe 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 Hazardous Substances Act (15 
U.S.C. 1261 et seq.).
    ``(b) Definitions.--
            ``(1) Children's cushioned product.--In this section, the 
        term `children's cushioned product' means a children's product 
        (as defined in section 3(a)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety 
        Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(2))) that contains resilient filling 
        materials, such as high chairs, strollers, infant walkers, 
        booster seats, car seats, changing pads, floor play mats, 
        highchair pads, highchairs, infant swings, bassinets, infant 
        seats, infant bouncers, nursing pads, playards, playpen side 
        pads, infant mattresses, infant mattress pads, and portable 
        hook-on chairs.
            ``(2) Flame retardant chemical defined.--In this section, 
        the term `flame retardant chemical' means an organohalogen or 
        organophosphorous compound.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the Consumer 
Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-314) is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 108 the following:

``Sec. 109. Ban on flame retardant chemicals in the resilient filling 
                            materials in children's products.''.
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