TCDPP warning on seat-should I find another one?

abigaylebelle

Active member
I bought a combi coccoro the other day and when it arrived this afternoon the box included the warning for TCDPP. None of my other seats have ever had this warning-but this is the first seat I have bought in CA.

So should I return it and look for a different brand? Even though I know cancer causing chemicals are in everything (the couch, mattress, the car itself) I still hesitate to put my baby into a seat with this warning.

Any insights appreciated.
 
ADS

oakster

New member
Yeah, I just noticed that they now have a notice up on their site too. Huge bummer as I love that seat! TDCPP is chlorinated tris, and is one of the more toxic options car seat manufacturers have for meeting flammability standards. (There are other chemicals that may be less toxic--though honestly some have just not been as comprehensively tested--or, ideally, they can meet the standards through choice of materials.)

The new warning labels are thanks to CA's Proposition 65 labeling laws; TDCPP was added to the list last year as a chemical that must be labeled. Thankfully, California also recently changed its flame retardant law (in place since the 70s and the major driver behind most market decisions on use of chemical flame retardants, so relevant even outside of CA) to implement a new, more effective test and exempt car seats and most other baby/children's items from the test. Car seats must still meet federal motor vehicle flammability regulations, but that test is administered differently; California's old test was notorious for essentially forcing manufacturers to douse products with chemicals in order to pass the test (and was not necessarily a great test of how these items might burn in real-world conditions).

So short answer: no, your Coccoro probably isn't that different from seats you've bought in the past in terms of its chemical content. A seat that isn't labeled might contain an equally toxic chemical flame retardant that just doesn't happen to be on the Prop 65 list yet. Seats bought in the future should slowly, slowly be safer in this regard (but very few on the market now are a whole lot different; just trading one chemical for another). Britax attempted to eliminate brominated and chlorinated chemical flame retardants from their seats but apparently gave up a couple of years back; hopefully they will try again now that they just have to pass the federal test. Graco had also said they would phase some specific chemicals out but would not say publicly what they would replace them with, so who knows.

We wash our covers in hot water with oxygen bleach, which may degrade the flame retardant chemicals somewhat. It's not ideal, but it helps with my comfort level. Car seat foam will continue to be treated to pass the federal tests, but hopefully more manufacturers will begin to offer covers that are chemical-free. (There are a few out there already; Orbit makes one, and I believe some Radian covers are not treated depending on fabric type.)

Also, couch and mattress flame retardants are happily on the way out as a result of the new law--we are getting a new chemical-free couch soon and many of the major furniture stores in CA report that they are just selling through their current stock and then will be flame-retardant-free well in advance of the 2015 deadline, which is great news!
 

Baylor

New member
My problem with the chemical would be that in a hot car on a hot day it could leech into the air and make problems for all people in the car.
 

abigaylebelle

Active member
My problem with the chemical would be that in a hot car on a hot day it could leech into the air and make problems for all people in the car.

Yes from my understanding this chemical breaks down and ends up in the dust in the car. I don't want any of us breathing/eating that. Although the car itself is surely chock full of toxic flame retardants anyway. I guess I was just happier in my ignorance of it.

So I read that orbit used to use foam that did not contain the worst of the flame retardants but they recently changed suppliers and that is no longer true.

Should I return the coccoro and look for a different seat then? Is there another option that won't have these chemicals?
 

oakster

New member
Yes from my understanding this chemical breaks down and ends up in the dust in the car. I don't want any of us breathing/eating that. Although the car itself is surely chock full of toxic flame retardants anyway. I guess I was just happier in my ignorance of it.

So I read that orbit used to use foam that did not contain the worst of the flame retardants but they recently changed suppliers and that is no longer true.

Should I return the coccoro and look for a different seat then? Is there another option that won't have these chemicals?

Unfortunately they are all pretty comparable on the breaking down/dust front, especially if Orbit is no longer using foam with minimal chemicals. :( Cars themselves are treated with similar chemicals too, though (the federal test that they use for car seats is actually the same one that they use for actual seats of cars so the same chemicals are used) so yeah, not much better/different there. You can help minimize risks (though I am horrible about remembering to do it) by vacuuming the interior of your car regularly with a vacuum that has a HEPA filter, and trying to avoid eating in the car when possible. (Same guidelines as for minimizing risks with upholstered furniture--though I'm equally bad at remembering to do it there...)

I wouldn't worry about it for this seat, but do consider writing a letter to Combi to let them know that you are concerned. The more manufacturers hear from consumers, the more likely they are to consider developing alternatives to chemical flame retardants to meet the safety standards. I wouldn't stress about the label itself--that's just compliance with the law, and the other companies just use different but equally toxic chemicals that simply aren't on the list yet so they don't have to label them, so there isn't an alternative out there that's much different on the safety front. (There's a huge process with lobbying from chemical companies, etc. to try to keep chemicals off the Prop 65 list for as long as possible, especially proprietary ones where there hasn't been much testing outside of the chemical industry itself.)
 

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