Bay State passes fire-retardant limitation bill
‘A massive step forward in protecting our residents and first responders’
Manufacturers and retailers in Massachusetts will be banned from selling or importing certain products like bedding, furniture, children’s products, window treatments and carpeting that contain 11 flame-retardant chemicals under legislation signed by Gov. Charlie Baker.
The new law, which does not apply to inventory manufactured prior to Dec. 31, 2021, was celebrated by supporters who have pushed for its passage for years by arguing the chemicals can cause cancer and also are ineffective at slowing down fires. Baker signed the measure on New Year’s Day.
“It’s not enough to thank our first responders. Our words must equate into action and policy,” said state Rep. Marjorie Decker, a Cambridge Democrat who sponsored the bill in the House. “While many of us in elected office appreciate their work, it is our highest obligation to protect them, mitigating, preventing and reducing the harms they experience by the nature of their work.”
In a tweet, Sen. Cynthia Creem said she filed flame retardants legislation eight years ago and called its passage a “great start to 2021” and an important way to protect children and first responders from “harmful chemicals.” When products containing the chemicals burn, Creem has said, they create “toxic smoke.”
The Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts union president Richard MacKinnon Jr. wrote in a message to members, “This is a massive step forward in protecting our residents and first responders in Massachusetts from the dangers of these toxic chemicals associated with flame-retardant products.”
Last week, in his push for Baker to sign the bill, MacKinnon argued that numerous firefighters in Massachusetts over the last two years have died from various forms of cancer, and dozens more have received cancer diagnoses. He called the bill a “direct result of the significant scientific data that has come to light over the last
several years proving the link between flame retardant chemicals and cancer.”
According to the bill, regulations governing its implementation will be assembled
by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which may establish a labeling program for products covered by the law that meet fire safety standards and do
not contain any of the chemical flame retardants banned under the new law.