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Study raises concern over exposure to flame retardant chemicals used in some car seats
Two years ago, Veena Singla of San Francisco volunteered to participate in a study researching drivers’ exposure to flame retardants used on car seats.
Singla drives an electric car to help the environment, but hadn’t thought much about the air inside her vehicle. But according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, “vehicles are likely important sources of human exposure to potentially harmful [flame retardants].”
Those most likely to be exposed are commuters, full-time vehicle drivers and children. According to the study, children are at greater risk than adults even for equivalent commuting times.
Singla told CBS News she “never realized there could be toxic chemicals” inside her car. “It was very surprising to me.”
For the study, Singla and 100 other car owners placed silicone bands in their cars for a week to measure the chemical levels inside. It was also found that the concentration of those chemicals was two to five times higher in the summer compared to the winter.
“In hotter temperatures, the chemicals are able to be released from the car materials more easily, and so you end up with higher concentrations,” said study co-author Lydia Jahl, a senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute.
Researchers detected flame retardants in every car tested and specifically found TCIPP — which the National Institutes of Health says releases toxic fumes “when heated to decomposition” — in 99% of the cars tested, but the study didn’t look at specific makes or models. A group representing automakers said “approved flame retardants” are included in vehicles to meet the government’s required flammability standards.
Researchers can’t say precisely what the health effects might be from breathing in those flame retardants, but they noted that a 2023 U.S. National Toxicology Report “found evidence of carcinogenic activity in…rats and mice” for the most frequently found chemical.
The study’s researchers and others are now calling for the federal flammability standard to be re-evaluated, similar to how the standard for upholstered furniture was revised in 2021 to eliminate flame retardants.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which sets those standards, did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment.
The International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents over 344,000 firefighters and emergency medical workers in the U.S. and Canada, said that most car fires are the result of engine fires or accidents, and don’t come from the interior of the car. But, it said, the chemicals pose a risk to its members.
“You put those flame retardants in there, and the fire is going, that’s what we’re breathing in … some of the most toxic air you will ever find anywhere,” said IAFF’s Pat Morrison.
For now, the study’s researchers recommend rolling car windows down when you first get in to let the air out and to wash your hands after being in a car.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.