Bipartisan Bill Targets Cancer-Causing Flame Retardants in Cars
April 22, 2026
U.S. Representatives Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced today the Motor Vehicle Flammability Standards Study Act of 2026. The bill would direct the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to evaluate both the fire safety effectiveness of its federal vehicle flammability standard and the health risks from the chemicals used to meet it. Findings would inform an updated standard that improves fire safety while reducing driver and passenger exposure to cancer-causing and neurotoxic flame retardants.
The bill follows a 2024 peer-reviewed study led by Duke University and the Green Science Policy Institute finding harmful flame retardants in the interior of every car tested. Of the 101 cars (model year 2015 or newer) tested, 99 percent contained tris (1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), a flame retardant under investigation by the U.S. National Toxicology Program as a potential carcinogen. Most cars had additional organophosphate ester flame retardants present, including tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), two California Proposition 65 carcinogens. These and other flame retardants are also linked to neurological and reproductive harms.
Flame retardants are added to seat foam to meet NHTSA’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302, an open-flame flammability standard that was introduced without research in the early 1970s and remains unchanged. There are no data showing FMVSS 302 reduces vehicle fires, deaths, or injuries. According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, “…these harmful chemicals do little to prevent fires for most uses and instead make the blazes smokier and more toxic for victims, and especially for first responders.”
“This 55-year-old standard is a misguided holdover from a bygone era,” said Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. “It’s uncertain whether this standard has ever provided any benefit, even in the days when smoking while driving was commonplace. What is certain is that these chemicals pose a serious health risk to drivers, passengers, workers, and especially to children.”
Open-flame flammability standards have a history of unintended health consequences. Epidemiological studies have shown that the average U.S. child has lost three to five IQ points from exposure to one flame retardant that was used for many years to meet these standards in cars and furniture. Further, a research paper estimated those with highest levels of this flame retardant in their blood had about four times the risk of dying from cancer compared with people with the lowest levels.
Fortunately, flammability standards can be modernized for the benefit of public health and fire safety. Twelve years ago, California’s flammability standard for furniture and baby products was updated to a modern standard that is met without flame retardants. This update has maintained, or even modestly increased, furniture fire safety and led to lower levels of flame retardants in our homes and bodies.
The Motor Vehicle Flammability Standards Study Act of 2026 would pave the path for a similar update for vehicles, and is endorsed by the International Association of Fire Fighters, Consumer Reports, and the Green Science Policy Institute.
“When consumers get into a car, they should be able to trust that the fire safety standards meant to protect them aren’t also putting them at risk through exposure to harmful chemicals,” said Cooper Lohr, Senior Policy Analyst at Consumer Reports. “The current federal standard has been on the books for more than 50 years, largely unchanged, even as technology and scientific knowledge has advanced rapidly. Tens of thousands of consumers and a broad coalition of organizations are calling for action, and this bipartisan bill from Reps. Griffith and Matsui would be a vital first step.”
“Fire fighters and the public deserve evidence-based vehicle safety standards,” said Edward A. Kelly, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters. “The science indicates that the use of flame retardants in cars creates unnecessary health risks. On behalf of our 365,000 members, I commend Reps. Griffith and Matsui for leading the effort to create vehicle safety standards that actually make cars safer. Congress should pass this legislation and bring us closer to a future free from toxic chemicals.”