New York Legislature Passes Groundbreaking Family And Fire Fighter Protection Act
Senate and Assembly Ban Toxic Chemicals Used as Flame Retardants in Furniture, Bedding, and Electronics
Supporters for Bill Include Fire Fighters, Pediatricians, Civil Rights Groups, and Environmental Groups
ALBANY, NY: June 10, 2021 -- Today, the New York State Assembly passed S.4630B (Kaminsky)/A. 5418B (Englebright), a bill prohibiting the use of flame retardants in furniture, mattresses, and electronic enclosures. While several states have passed similar legislation, New York is nation-leading in its restrictions on organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs) in electronic enclosures. The bill received broad bipartisan support. It passed unanimously in the Senate earlier this week and the Assembly today with a vote of 147-02.
A growing body of scientific literature links flame retardants to endocrine disruption, reproductive problems, and reduced IQ. Because they interact with their environment in unpredictable ways and are still developing, children are especially vulnerable to the long-term health risks and bio-accumulative properties of flame retardants.
“Toxic chemicals used as flame retardants poison children and firefighters and don’t prevent fires. The only people who claim to believe otherwise are paid a lot of money to do so,” said Bobbi Wilding, Executive Director of Clean and Healthy New York and Co-Leader of the JustGreen Partnership. “We thank Senator Kaminsky, Assemblyman Englebright, and the New York State legislature for championing this groundbreaking policy.”
“New Yorkers deserve safe and healthy homes that are free of carcinogenic chemicals,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “I’m proud to have advanced this legislation, championed by Senator Kaminsky, that will help protect first responders, make people, especially developing children, healthier, and improve our precious environment.”
"The science is clear: carcinogenic flame retardants pose a serious threat to our firefighters and children,” said Senator Todd Kaminsky, Chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. “By banning these toxic substances from everyday items in our homes, such as furniture and electronic accessories, we will be taking a major step in keeping our families and first responders safe. It is long past time we put them before corporate polluters — and that is exactly what we are doing today. I look forward to seeing this bill enacted into law — our children and fire fighters’ health demands nothing less.”
"People have a right to safe and healthy homes, and New York is once again leading the way. I'm proud to have championed this legislation to protect New York's children and fire fighters from unnecessary and harmful chemicals," said Steve Englebright, Chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. I thank Senator Kaminsky for helping to get this nation-leading policy across the finish line."
Because these chemicals do not provide meaningful fire safety, and because they emit highly toxic smoke when they burn, this legislation received overwhelming support from major fire fighter organizations across New York State, who are considerably more at risk of leukemia, multiple myeloma, and esophageal, intestinal, testicular, and lung cancer. The New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association, Firemen's Association of the State of New York, NYS Association of Fire Chiefs, and Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York supported this bill.
“On behalf of our state’s 85,000 volunteer firefighters, I want to thank Senator Kaminsky for his leadership and hard work in getting this important piece of legislation passed in the Senate,” said John Farrell, President of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York. (FASNY). “Our firefighters volunteered to protect their communities, but they did not volunteer to get cancer or face unnecessary exposure to potential cancer-causing toxins. With firefighter cancers becoming more and more prevalent, we need to act now to remove these harmful agents from our homes and from the fire environments where our members operate. As firefighters, we are already exposed to significant amounts of toxins in the course of our duties, but to continue adding possible cancer-causing agents to our furniture and electronics - chemicals that have actually been show to do little to reduce fire growth or spread – is a recipe for more illness and potential losses of firefighters to cancer.”
“Many of the products commonly used today to treat various fabrics as a fire retardant, become toxic and cancer causing chemicals when burned,” said Sam Fresina, president of the New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association. “Occupational health studies have established links between fire fighting and an alarming number of cancer conditions. We are grateful for Senator Kaminsky’s and Assemblyman Englebright’s efforts to protect fire fighters across New York. They demonstrate both an awareness of an important issue – and a willingness to take meaningful action on behalf of more than 18,000 members and the families that rely on them.”
While chemicals used as flame retardants are dangerous for everybody, they have a disproportionate impact on black and low-income households with limited economic means to replace mattresses and sofas with higher quality and non-toxic furnishings. Over 20% of families living below the federal poverty level are Black, and Black children are the most likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. The legislation received the support of environmental justice and civil rights groups, including WE ACT for Environmental Justice and the New York State Association of NAACP Branches.
“Studies show that people of color – and children of color, in particular – are more likely to have higher levels of these flame retardant chemicals in their bodies, and are therefore bear a greater burden of the adverse health impacts these toxic chemicals cause,” explained Sonal Jessel, M.P.H., Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Co-Leader of the JustGreen Partnership. “That is why we are so grateful to New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky and New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright for sponsoring this important bill, and to all their fellow legislators who voted to pass it today."
"Today New York makes progress in advancing sweeping legislation that will protect our families from harmful toxins with the passage of the Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act (A.5418B Englebright/S.4680B Kaminsky)," said Hazel N. Dukes, Chair of the New York State Association of NAACP Branches. "Eliminating these toxic flame retardant chemicals is one step toward addressing a legacy of environmental racism harming Black people, communities of color, and the poor."
Enactment of this policy was a top JustGreen Partnership priority. Partner organizations and others had the following to say:
We are delighted to see this legislation move forward and to have the full support of the New York State Legislature,” said Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, the Jim G. Hendrick, MD Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Population Health at NYU Langone Health. “I applaud the efforts of Sen. Kaminsky and his colleagues who are taking important steps forward, through this legislation, to eliminate harmful and hazardous chemicals from manufacturing that threaten the lives of our firefighters and other exposed to them.”
“Flame retardants pose a risk to consumers, firefighters, and children as they have been linked to serious health effects, from cancer and reproductive issues to developmental disabilities. The legislature has helped to ensure that our communities stay healthy by banning toxic flame retardants in upholstered furniture, mattresses, and the casings of electronic displays,” said Rich Schrader, New York Policy and Legislative Director for NRDC.
“The Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act is a common-sense bill that will protect our fire fighters, children, and communities from exposure to toxic flame retardants,” said Eve Gartner, Managing Attorney of the Toxic Exposure & Health Program at Earthjustice. “Studies link flame-retardant chemicals to cancer, reproductive toxicity, and neurological and endocrine effects. Products containing flame retardants are hazardous at every phase of their life cycle—from production, to their use in households, to disposal. They are not necessary for fire safety and in fact make smoke more dangerous, putting fire fighters and other first responders at risk of lifelong health conditions. We thank Senator Todd Kaminsky, Assemblymember Steve Englebright, and their fellow legislators for championing this policy and bringing us closer to ending exposures to these highly toxic chemicals.”
Patrick McClellan, Policy Director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said, "Toxic chemicals have no place in our homes, workplaces, and environment. The Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act will help prevent flame retardants from polluting our household items and improve public health, especially for firefighters who are most at risk from these toxic chemicals. Thank you to the State Legislature for passing this important bill. We commend Senator Kaminsky and Assemblymember Englebright for your leadership."
“Study after study has shown that applying toxic chemical flame retardants to furniture does very little to actually slow the spread of fires,” said Caitlin Ferrante, Conservation Program Manager, the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “Rather, it is these same toxic chemicals that are contaminating our homes, polluting our water, and endangering those who risk their lives to fight fires through smoke inhalation. We are grateful to the Senate and Assembly for passing this nation-leading bill to ban the application of these harmful flame retardants. We look forward to Governor Cuomo signing this bill into law quickly.”
“Based on a growing body of research studies which show that flame retardants have been associated with endocrine disruption and breast cancer risk, the Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition supports the Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act, which would regulate chemicals in upholstered furniture, mattresses and electronic enclosures,” said Laura Weinberg, President, Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition.
“Maintaining health and wellness should be the top priority from birth and throughout our lives. Eliminating toxic exposures is one way to achieve this important goal,” said Karen Joy Miller, Executive Director of the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition. “The Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act will reduce many of the endocrine disrupting chemicals that are in our homes. On behalf of Huntington Breast Cancer ACTION Coalition, Inc. I support this sweeping legislation and thank NYS Assemblyman Englebright, Senator Kaminsky and the NYS Legislature upon the passing of this bill while looking forward to NYS Governor Cuomo signing it into law.”
“This action by the New York State legislature is critical for protecting families and firefighters from highly hazardous chemicals in our homes”, said Mike Schade, Campaign Director of the Mind the Store campaign. “Retailers and television manufacturers, who have been lagging for years, should move quickly to eliminate these toxic chemicals in televisions sold across the nation.”
“The business community applauds the New York State legislature for passing this nation-leading bill and is ready for it to be signed into law,” said Bob Rossi, Executive Director of the New York Sustainable Business Council (NYSBC). “Leading retailers are already eliminating flame retardants due to their ineffectiveness and well-known health impacts. These health impacts increase employee turnover and absenteeism for businesses and create a broad economic drag on our communities. We now look to Governor Cuomo for his signature.”
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The JustGreen Partnership is a coalition of about 50 groups representing nearly a million New Yorkers, all working together for environmental health and justice for New York’s people and communities. The Partnership focuses on transforming the policies that govern how chemicals are regulated or marketed in the great State of New York. Through our work, we are building a better movement for health and environmental justice in New York State.