Blumenthal Leads Bipartisan Letter to Get Carcinogens Out of Cars
August 7, 2024
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representatives Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA) sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today calling for an update of the agency’s 1971 vehicle flammability standard. The standard leads car manufacturers to add flame retardant chemicals—including those known or suspected to cause cancer—to seat foam and other materials. It also has no demonstrated fire-safety benefit.
“We are concerned that consumers could be unknowingly exposed to these harmful flame retardant chemicals in their vehicles because of this dated standard,” the lawmakers write. NHTSA must “review the underlying standard to ensure it protects consumers from both fires and harmful chemicals in their vehicles,” they urge.
The letter comes on the heels of a peer-reviewed study led by Duke University and the Green Science Policy Institute finding harmful flame retardants in every vehicle tested. The most prevalent was a flame retardant under investigation by the U.S. National Toxicology Program as a potential carcinogen. Other frequently detected flame retardants included two California Proposition 65 carcinogens that are also linked to infertility, pregnancy complications, and neurological problems.
The standard that drives the use of these chemicals in cars is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302, which remains unchanged since it was implemented more than 50 years ago. There are no data showing FMVSS 302 reduces vehicle fires, deaths, or injuries. According to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), “…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 53-year-old standard is a misguided relic of 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.”
The lawmakers join thousands of citizens and dozens of organizations also concerned with the findings of flame retardants in vehicles across the US. For example, a petition led by the organization Consumer Reports with more than 30,000 signatures asks NHTSA to “get cancer-causing chemicals out of cars.” In May, more than 70 organizations sent a joint letter to NHTSA calling on the agency to launch an effort to modernize the standard to maintain fire safety without harmful flame retardants.
This would mirror changes to California’s flammability standard for furniture and baby products, which was updated to be met without flame retardants. Notably, this update has maintained, or even modestly increased, furniture fire safety and led to lower levels of flame retardants in U.S. homes.
Available for Interviews:
- Lydia Jahl, Green Science Policy Institute, 510-730-1499, [email protected]
- Arlene Blum, Green Science Policy Institute, 510-919-6363, [email protected]