Shed some light on toxicity concern?

EALOVE · May 2, 2018

Due to an accident, I have to replace all carseats in my vehicle. I am looking at the Chicco GoFit (9.5 yo), Chicco KidFit (7.5 yo), and Chicco Myfit (5.5 yo).
We used to be full Britax (Parkway, Frontier 85, Marathon).

It's been a while since I've been in the carseat game. Have chemical levels changed in the pass 3 years? Is one brand completely better than another based on chemical levels? Any info and opinions are appreciated.

oakster · May 2, 2018

They've gotten better, but it's still pretty variable. The most recent testing by the Ecology Center (where they've been tracking this for a number of years) was two years ago so who knows what's changed since then, but Chicco unfortunately did pretty poorly. Britax did much better because they've phased out the most toxic flame retardants; they were recommended along with Maxi-Cosi.

That said, we just replaced our Britax seat with a KidFit and decided not to stress too much about it. For booster-aged kids, there's less contact with the seat than with a baby or toddler nested in a rear-facing seat, so I decided to just go with the seat that worked best overall.

MelodyoftheForest · May 3, 2018

Plus, you can always wash the covers according to instructions to remove any residues that might be lingering from production. I usually do so before using a new seat for the first time.