WASHINGTON, DC—Consumer Reports (CR), the Green Science Policy Institute, and the International Association of Fire Fighters filed a formal petition for rulemaking today to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), urging the agency to update its more than 50-year-old vehicle interior flammability standard. To meet the current standard, manufacturers are adding cancer-causing and neurotoxic flame retardant chemicals to seat foam and other materials.
In the petition, supported by 68 health, safety, and environmental organizations and more than 46,000 consumers, the three groups called on NHTSA to modernize its harmful and ineffective standard that leads to daily harmful exposures for everyone who rides in cars without providing a proven fire-safety benefit.
“NHTSA’s flammability standard is badly outdated, and it leads millions of people nationwide to be regularly exposed to harmful chemicals. This is unacceptable,” said Gabe Knight, Senior Safety Policy Analyst for Consumer Reports. “The current open-flame test under the standard offers little protection against modern vehicle fires. Instead, it exposes passengers—especially infants and children whose brains and bodies are still developing—to chemicals linked to cancer, IQ loss, and developmental and reproductive harm. To better protect consumers and safeguard firefighters from exposure to these harmful chemicals, CR urges NHTSA to immediately take steps to update its standard.”
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 302 was adopted in 1971 to protect against the spread of small interior fires, like those caused by cigarettes or matches. However, smoking in vehicles has declined significantly since the 1970s, and less than 10% of vehicle fires today are attributed to open flames or smoking materials. Today, most vehicle fires stem from mechanical or electrical failures in the engine, which often grow too large by the time they reach the passenger cabin for the flame retardants to be effective.
The coalition recommends replacing the current open-flame test with an alternative test, such as a smolder test, which manufacturers can meet without relying on harmful flame retardants. California implemented a similar update to its flammability standard for upholstered furniture and baby products a decade ago. The updated standard has maintained or modestly improved fire safety without the use of harmful flame retardants and has been adopted nationwide.
The flame retardant chemicals carmakers use might delay ignition for mere seconds before burning and releasing toxic gases, soot, dioxins, and furans, which are the major causes of fire-related deaths and can contribute to firefighter cancer. January is Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month.
A May 2024 peer-reviewed study by Duke University, Green Science Policy Institute, and University of Toronto researchers found that the air inside all 101 personal vehicles tested contained harmful flame retardants. Some of the flame retardants detected in cars are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and/or neurotoxins, and persist and accumulate in the body over time.
Learn about how to reduce individual exposure, as well as recommendations on reducing flame retardant chemicals in vehicles for automobile manufacturers, NHTSA, and other policymakers, here.
Media Contact: Emily Akpan, emily.akpan@consumer.org