High chairs are another children’s products that often contain a variety of toxic chemicals. We don’t see a reason that a high chair should be treated with flame retardants when the research shows they can be very damaging to all people, but especially young children. At Organic Baby University we do not believe the benefits outweigh the risks when it comes to so many children’s toys treated with flame retardants. We believe all damaging chemicals should be avoiding while pregnant and during childhood especially as studies show this are critical times of development. Many chemicals found have been banned in the past in other products such as children’s pajamas due to their toxicity. To learn more CLICK HERE.

So what do you do? In our experience, it can take weeks or months of hounding companies to find out what chemicals they use in their products! For example, it took us nearly TWO YEARS of emailing and calling Pottery Barn to find out what flame retardants they use in their products! Now we know why! That blog will be posted shortly! The best thing parents can do to protect their children is to get educated and to use their vote (your purchase) to tell these companies what you won’t tolerate in children’s products!

We have highlighted the company name in our color code according to our view of the safety of chemical choices the company has made or the information they have provided.

• Green is for companies that have answered all of our questions and do not use harmful chemicals.
• Orange is for companies that may have given us partial answers or use no flame retardants but do use PVC for example. We will change these colors as we receive more information from the company.
• Red is used for companies that use chemicals that we believe are harmful to children.

High Chair Companies

Stokke

We do not use flame retardants, nor do our products contain any BPA, PVC or Phthalates or lead.

For Stokke Chairs CLICK HERE

Phil and Ted’s

Hi Jennifer, the highchairs are not treated! Phil and Teds or Mountain Buggy products sold in the USA has been treated with Fire retardants, with the exception of the Nest Mattress foam and the Traveller Mattress fabric. Although these 2 items are treated with Fire Retardants, the chemical referred to in the recent NY times article, namely tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (which contains bromine), is not used.

All our products are compliant with the CPSIA regulations around lead in products.

For Phil and Ted High Chairs CLICK HERE

Boon

(They do not use FR but use phthalates)

We are happy to inform you that we do not use flame retardants in our products. Our currently manufactured products do not contain PVC or BPA.  And all of our products meet or exceed the Federally mandated lead and phthalate limits of the CPSIA. However, we do not use any dedicated lead components or paints.

Baby Trend

(They use one of the worst FR out there)

We use Brominated Flame retardents on all fabric. We do not sell cribs or activity centers, but the plastic used on carseats is Polly Propylene. The plastic used on the High Chairs, Strollers, Walkers, and Joggers is Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, Poly Propylene, and Poly Ethylene.

OXO

Legs: 100% Birch/walnut Plywood

Plastics:  Engineered Plastic Resins

Cushion: Polyurethane cover bonded to closed cell foam with Tricot Polyester Backing

We do not include fire retardants in our cushions to avoid adding any potentially harmful chemicals to our products.

We use no PVC, Lead, Phthalates or BPA materials in any of our OXO TOT products.

Thanks for choosing OXO!

Kids II (Bright Starts, Baby Einstein, Disney)

(Do not contain FR but may contain phthalates and PVC)

We do not use flame retardants on any products distributed within the United States. All our products are BPA free as well. This is the extent of the information that we are able to disclose due to proprietary reasons regarding the construction of our products. I hope that this information was helpful to you.

There may be traces of phthalates, PVC, and lead depending on the items. Some of our products do and others do not. However we do remain in compliance with all laws in place permitting these components. We are not able to provide you with a list of all components and which products posses them.

Do your products contain water, stain or bacterial resistance chemicals?

Jennifer I am unable to answer this specific question for you.

Graco

The High Chairs, Activity/doorway jumper, and Swings are not treated with Fire Retardant

The tray is polypropylene; on models featuring an ‘insert tray’, plastic is made of acrylonitrilic butadiene styrene (ABS). The product is BPA Free, Phthalate Free, PVC Free

If more information is needed, please send your inquiry in writing to the following address:

Graco Baby & Parenting Essentials

Fisher Price

(Not treated with FR but some are treated with another chemical)

Jennifer Hankey:  First is do you treat your high chairs with fire retardants, water resistant, stain resistant or antibacterial chemicals?

I would caution you against using any of our high chairs that state that they have a “Nanotex” pad, as that is fabric that has been treated to be water resistant.

Jennifer Hankey:  And to confirm the high chairs are NOT treated with flame retardants ( I only ask because they say they follow CA Tech bulletin guidelines on the tag) I know it doesn’t have to be treated to meet this but it is more often treated than not

Lara:  That is correct. The Nanotex coating is only used on the pads of some new models of our high chairs. They will appear to be a softer fabric, but it will state that they are treated with that Nanotex coating.

Lara:  That is correct regarding the use of the flame retardant on high chairs. The only products that required treatment in order to comply with California flame retardant standards were the foam on the interior of some toy bars on Baby Gear products such as play mats or bouncer seats.

Inglesina

(Contains FR and may contain phthalates, they did not address this)

All of our products undergo a flame retardant exposure.  I am unaware of the specific type that is used but it is a requirement from our manufacturer in Italy.  They are also BPA and lead free.  Our Fast and Zuma chairs are made with regular plastic material.

Svan

(Contains phthalates and FR)

All stains and finishes are lead-free. All Stains fulfill the requirements for European standard (EN71-3) for surface treatment for toys/children’s products. All stains used do NOT emit formaldehyde (EO certified) and meet the demands of the European Union directive 2005/84/EC concerning phthalates.

The flame retardant that is used for the foams and fabrics is Ammonium Polyphosphate.

Peg Perego

(Contains FR and may contain other chemicals, it was not answered)

By law everything has to be flame resistant.  But our fire retardent is an esther.  No bromine.

Evenflo

(They do not use flame retardants, however phthalates may be present)

Just the car seats are treated. All of our current products are manufactured without BPA, Lead or PVC and meet the federal Phthalates requirements. Lead is a naturally-occurring element and small amounts may be contained in some of the metal parts.  Steel – the most commonly recycled material in the world – often has trace amounts of lead in it.  The federal limit for lead in children’s products is 300 parts per million, which is often written as “300 ppm.”  To help put that in perspective, 300 parts per million is less than ¼ teaspoon per gallon.  Evenflo tests all its products – including all the inks and paints - at independent laboratories to ensure that the company’s products have even lower lead levels at no more than 13% of the federal standard.

Chicco

From Phone Call: They do not use flame retardants but did not disclose whether they use BPA, phthalates, PVC or lead

Keekaroo

Thank you for contacting Keekaroo Support! We pride ourselves with being green in the manufacturing of our products!

-          Flame retardants – No flame retardants are used.

-          Stain and water resistant chemicals used – None are used.

-          PVC – No PVC is used.

-          Phthalates – No phthalates are used.

Waiting For Response-

The Dorel Group Which Includes:

Safety First

Eddie Bauer

Cosco

Summary:

There are some safe high chairs but you just need to make sure you do your homework and purchase the right brand!

You can also just buy a plain wood high chair to save money like THIS CHAIR and have a cushion made by wonderful US small companies like SEWING SILLY where they hand make each cover and they are wonderful and affordable! You can order them with organic cotton fill and pick and organic cotton fabric if you like.  We also recommend contacting PRACTICAL DESIGNS, also a handmade product that you can get all or part organic to cover the germy high chairs and buggies when you eat out and shop!

To learn more about the dangerous chemicals in high chairs you can watch our videos on polyeurythane foams (they are on furniture and toys but the facts are the same)

Furniture Video

Toys/ Polyurethane Foams Video

FOR THE FULL SCIENTIFIC REPORT ON TOXIC FLAME RETARDANTS FOUND IN CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS CLICK HERE

Or you can click the links below

MARTIN, ANDREW. “Chemical Suspected as Carcinogen Is in Baby Products – NYTimes.com.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 July 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/18chemical.html>.

“Potentially Toxic Flame Retardants Found in Baby Products – US News and World Report.” Health News Articles – US News Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 July 2011.<http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/environment/articles/2011/05/18/potentially-toxic-flame-retardants-found-in-baby-products>.

“Toxic flame retardants found in many foam baby products.”UC Berkeley NewsCenter: News from the University of California, Berkeley. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 July 2011. <http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/05/18/toxic-flame-retardants-found-in-many-foam-baby-products/>.

YOU CAN ALSO VISIT OUR OTHER BLOGS IN THIS SERIES:

TOXIC FLAME RETARDANTS IN CHILDREN’S TOYS: INTRODUCTION

TOXIC FLAME RETARDANTS IN CHILDREN’S TOYS: PLUSH TOYS

TOXIC FLAME RETARDANTS IN CHILDREN”S PRODUCTS: STROLLERS

TOXIC FLAME RETARDANTS IN CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS: NURSING PILLOWS

DISCLAIMER:

All the information is not guaranteed, rather it was received directly from the companies via email unless otherwise noted. All emails have been saved and documented by OBU. A green rating does not guarantee that there are no chemicals in the high chairs. Only free of the chemicals that we inquired about according to their company. Your purchase is your vote! If you want safer products for our children, tell the companies you will only support companies that sell safer products!