As ISPA previously reported, New York enacted NY A4630B, the Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act, in 2021. The law prohibits the sale or offering for sale any new, not previously owned, mattresses and upholstered furniture containing, or a constituent component of which contains, certain flame retardants (“FR”) individually or in combination. For these purposes, the covered FR are any chemical that is both functionally used to resist or inhibit the spread of fire or as a synergist to do the same, and which is a halogenated, organophosphorus, organonitrogen, or nanoscale chemical at or above levels set through regulation by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”).
With regard to mattresses, this law goes into effect in two phases. First, mattresses sold after December 1, 2024, may not contain intentionally added covered FR chemicals except for modacrylic fiber components without antimony trioxide and aramid fibers used in certain manners. Second, FR components that contain modacrylic fiber without antimony and used internally as a barrier material in memory and gel foam mattresses, as well as aramid fibers used in the bottom of a one-sided mattress, may continue to be used in mattresses until January 1, 2026.
DEC has not yet issued regulations setting the concentration limits for these FR chemicals. Although ISPA has requested that the DEC set reasonable limits that would permit the continued use of modacrylic and aramid fiber in mattress FR barriers after the January 1, 2026 deadline, it has not yet released any decision on that request.
The law also excludes from its prohibitions:
- thread and fiber used for stitching mattress components together,
- wool, silk and other animal fibers used singly or in combination with other materials and
- electronic components of mattresses.
The law contains no sell-through provision for products that were manufactured prior to the December 1, 2024 deadline, that would have allowed manufacturers or retailers to continue to sell non-compliant products that were manufactured before that date.
Also, manufacturers must provide a Certification of Compliance to show that covered products are in compliance with this law or that the product is covered by a specific exemption.
ISPA will continue to explore all options and engage on this issue with DEC and stakeholders to pursue a reasonable outcome to meet federal flammability standards. ISPA will engage with DEC to set final chemical allowance amounts for covered chemical categories and work to extend the use of both modacrylic and aramid fibers. We encourage you to work with your legal and compliance departments in order to comply with these new requirements.
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