As parents we know how important it is to make sure our kids are securely fastened into their car seat or booster seat. Car seats saves lives, but when it comes to nasty chemicals not all car seats are alike.

Last week, we released a study on toxic chemicals in children's car seats on our website HealthyStuff.org. While some of the car seats we tested were virtually free of the most dangerous chemicals, over half (60%) contained at least one chemical of concern, like bromine, chlorine, lead, and other heavy metals. Yuck.
Watch this news clip from ABC to learn more

More than 150 2011-model car seats were tested for bromine (associated with brominated flame retardants); chlorine (indicating the presence of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC and plasticizers); lead; other heavy metals, and allergens. These substances have been linked to allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer. Heat in cars can accelerate the release of these chemicals and UV-light exposure can cause breakdown of chemical into other potentially hazardous chemicals.

Babies are the most vulnerable population in terms of exposure, since their systems are rapidly developing. And let’s be honest, many parents let sleeping babies stay in their car seats rather than rousing them to come indoors. As a result, some babies may spend hours in their car seats every day.

Our goal with these new results is provide families with information on which car seats have fewer chemicals of concern than others. That way, when you’re ready to move from an infant seat to a convertible or booster seat, you can make informed purchasing decisions. The good news is that car seats with no nasty chemicals are available at the low and high end of the price spectrum.

When you’re ready to buy a new car seat, visit HealthyStuff.org to look up the best- and worst-scoring car seats to aid your decision-making. Anyone looking to buy a new car seat, or wondering how their child’s current car seat compares to others, can visit our site to become a more informed consumer.

So what’s a parent to do?

- Keep it clean. Many of these chemicals like to attach to dust. Frequent vacuuming with a HEPA vacuum of your seat, cars and even home can help reduce exposures to many chemical contained in consumer products. Remember, many of these chemicals are also in other children’s product that might be in your home.

-Wash those hands. Particularly for younger children, keeping hands clean can reduce children’s exposure when they eat or stick their hands in their mouths.

- Keep it cool. Use a windshield solar shade and ventilating your vehicle before entering it can help reduce the levels of chemical in the vehicle environment.

Car seats were tested with a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device, which identifies the elemental composition of materials in less than 60 seconds without destroying the product.
We’re happy to report that overall, car seat toxicity levels are getting better. Car seat rankings have improved by 64 percent since 2008, when we started testing toxic chemicals in car seats.

While there are numerous substances in car seats that may lead to health and environmental problems, we selected those with known toxicity, persistence, or tendency to accumulate in people and the environment. We tested for various heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic, mercury, and chromium since children are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of these heavy metals, from brain damage, learning disabilities, cancer to problems with the kidneys, blood, nervous and reproductive systems.

We also tested for bromine, a halogen associated with the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and is added to foams or plastics for fire resistance. Some BFRs have been linked to thyroid problems, learning and memory impairment, decreased fertility, and behavioral changes. Although fire retardants in foam are necessary to meet certain fire-safety standards, non-halogenated fire retardants are available, and many have a better safety profile. Brominated flame retardant chemicals that are either deemed toxic or lack adequate health and safety data were detected in 44 percent of the 2011 car seats we tested.

Manufacturers still aren't required to disclose their use of dangerous chemicals in children's products, so they don't. If fact, we know they use other hazardous chemical like chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs) that we didn’t even test for in this study. Instead, they keep consumers in the dark, leaving us to wonder which products are contaminated. This needs to change.

We are asking the largest car seat retailers, Graco and Evenflo, to take leadership by disclosing and phasing hazardous flame retardants out of their products.

Let’s send a message to Graco and Evenflo: all babies deserve safe, non-toxic car seats!
Click here to take action! --> http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1421/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7478