I just found this thread, and my personal take on it is that the flame retardants are POPs and freak me out, so I try to avoid them. I always wash a new cover several times and try to let it off-gas a bit before using. I also avoid new cars. BUT I know I am the minority on that one.
If anyone is interested in reading more hard data about flame retardants and other chemicals, there is a great book by Sandra Steingraber called Having Faith: An ecologist's journey to motherhood. (Faith is her daughter's name). It's scary in places, but very real and very informative, and most importantly she's an expert in her field and uses real data. (she doesn't specifically talk about car seats, but flame retardants in general are something she discusses in terms of ecology--also note that she doesn't say that flame retardants do XYand Z to people... it's more like their role in the ecosystem and what they can do, where they turn up, risks, etc. Worth reading for parents IMO. :twocents:
If anyone is interested in reading more hard data about flame retardants and other chemicals, there is a great book by Sandra Steingraber called Having Faith: An ecologist's journey to motherhood. (Faith is her daughter's name). It's scary in places, but very real and very informative, and most importantly she's an expert in her field and uses real data. (she doesn't specifically talk about car seats, but flame retardants in general are something she discusses in terms of ecology--also note that she doesn't say that flame retardants do XYand Z to people... it's more like their role in the ecosystem and what they can do, where they turn up, risks, etc. Worth reading for parents IMO. :twocents: