UK to ditch ‘chemical sofa’ rules after decades as scientists warn evidence is ‘impossible to ignore’

Lucy Johnston
Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:07:02 +0000

Britain is preparing to overhaul fire safety rules that for nearly 40 years have effectively required sofas to be packed with potentially toxic chemical flame retardants.

The Government says it wants to replace the long-standing “open flame test” with a smoulder-based standard, a move expected to significantly reduce the need for chemical treatments in furniture.

Decades of peer-reviewed scientific papers detail how some of these chemicals could increase the risk of disrupted thyroid and sex hormones, impaired fertility, birth defects, cancer, reduced IQ and attention problems in children, immune interference, and damage to the kidney, liver, hearing, cornea or nerves.

These chemicals are not used in furniture across mainland Europe.

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The United States stopped mandating their use in furniture from 2013. In 2019, a Commons inquiry said Britain should stop too.

The shift follows sustained pressure from former lawyer and south London-based campaigner Delyth Fetherston-Dilke.

Since the late 1980s, UK fire furniture rules have been among the strictest in the world - but critics say they came with unintended consequences.

An investigation found it was “almost impossible to pass the fire safety tests without using large amounts of chemical flame retardants”, effectively making them standard in sofas and soft furnishings.

Campaigners say this turned everyday furniture into a major source of chemical exposure inside the home.

Campaigner Delyth Fetherston-Dilke said the regulations had left families unknowingly exposed, warning they had created “a hidden health risk in people’s homes”, particularly for young children and pets who are in close contact with these materials every day.

Researchers have repeatedly shown that flame-retardant chemicals escape from furniture into household dust, where they are inhaled or ingested.

Scientists at Imperial College London have previously warned that exposure is widespread, stating: “Exposure is unavoidable. Infants and young children are disproportionately exposed because of hand-to-mouth and mouthing behaviours.”

Their report added: “A large and rapidly-expanding evidence base shows that exposure to flame retardants increases risks of deleterious health effects including developmental and behavioural disorders, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, metabolic disruption, cancer, and many other effects.”

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A major long-term study in the United States has also demonstrated how closely exposure is tied to household items.

The World Health Organisation recently classified TCPP - one of the flame retardants widely used in UK furniture - as: “Probably carcinogenic to humans.”

And some scientists have even questioned whether the chemicals deliver the safety benefits originally intended.

Research has found that flame retardants can increase the toxicity of smoke produced in a fire, releasing higher levels of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, which are major causes of death in fires.

Other studies have raised doubts about their overall effectiveness in preventing fires, though this has been contested.

Even chemicals banned decades ago continue to be detected today, largely because they remain in older furniture still in use.

Researchers say this persistence means exposure can continue long after regulations change.

In one alarming study, scientists from National University of Ireland Galway, University of Birmingham and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found flame-retardant chemicals in breast milk samples from Irish mothers.

While levels recorded were within current safety limits, the study adds to evidence that exposure is widespread and ongoing.

The Department for Business and Trade said it is working on reforms that it hopes may reduce reliance on chemical flame retardants while maintaining fire safety standards.

It said it aims to “maintain a high level of fire safety while meaningfully reducing chemical flame retardant use.”