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Department of Toxic Substances Control Department of Toxic Substances Control
 

  SAFER CONSUMER PRODUCTS

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Contact Information:

Department of Toxic Substances Control
Safer Products and Workplaces Program
P.O. Box 806
Sacramento, CA 95812-0806
SaferConsumerProducts@dtsc.ca.gov

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Children's Foam-Padded Sleeping Products with TDCPP or TCEP

Children's foam-padded sleeping products that contain the flame retardant TDCPP have been proposed as an Initial Priority Product. These polyurethane foam-padded sleeping products include:

  • Nap mats and cots
  • Sleep positioners
  • Travel Beds
  • Bassinet foam
  • Portable crib mattresses
  • Play pens
  • Car bed pads

TDCPP is also known as chlorinated tris or tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate. It is a high production volume chemical that is considered a carcinogen by California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

TDCPP is readily released into air and dust, and has been detected in dust in homes, offices, automobiles, and daycare centers worldwide. People are exposed to TDCPP via dust inhalation or skin absorption and children and infants are especially vulnerable. In a Swedish study, dust from day care centers (where children's padded sleeping products are commonly used) was found to contain up to 50 times the levels of TDCPP related chemicals as dust in homes. Another study found higher levels of TDCPP in dust and air from child care facilities where foam mats were used as compared with facilities that did not use such mats.

Supporting Documents

The following downloadable documents summarize information compiled by DTSC as of March 13, 2014. As the department receives additional information through workshops and other communications, it may modify the description of the chemical(s) or product or both. Such changes, and DTSC's updated rationale for selecting this proposed Priority Product, will be reflected in the official rulemaking file. In using these materials, readers should consider the following:

  1. These documents are not regulatory documents and have no force of law.
  2. The department is not asserting that the product cannot be used safely, only that there is a potential for exposure of people or wildlife to the Chemical of Concern in the Priority Product and that such exposure has the potential to cause or contribute to significant or widespread adverse impacts.

DTSC requests that interested stakeholders provide data on the chemical and product described in this document to assist us in the discernment process that will lead to our regulatory proposal.