New consultation on UK furniture fire safety regulations now open

Chemical flame retardants (CFRs) are associated with cancer, neurological problems and reproduction issues, impacting the environment, human health and the circular economy, with many countries now moving away from their use.  However, current UK regulations have resulted in the use of large amounts of CFRs in UK furniture. Fidra welcomes the latest consultation on proposed changes to the UK’s furniture fire safety regulations, which present a major opportunity to reduce the use of CFRs and enable safe and sustainable fire safety.

New Consultation Launched

The UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards and the Department for Business and Trade, have launched a new long-awaited consultation, seeking views on proposed reform to the UK’s current Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations (FFRs) 1988. These changes aim to reduce the use of harmful CFRs in furniture, whilst maintaining high fire safety standards for consumers. This latest consultation follows on from updates which removed certain baby products from scope of the regulations in 2025 and a previous consultation conducted in 2023, which proposed changes to outdated flammability testing requirements.

The latest consultation proposes to:

1. Introduce new furniture fire safety requirements based on a smoulder test.
2. Put in place pragmatic testing solutions to facilitate innovation.
3. Make proportionate scope adjustments to protect upholsterers and second hand furniture.

Fidra welcome the launch of this latest consultation and these long-awaited regulatory steps to reduce the use of harmful chemical flame retardants in UK furniture.

An example of a nation who have already reduced the use of CFRs in furniture is the USA. After California took steps to update their furniture flammability standard (switching from open flame to TB1172013 smoulder test), the rest of the USA followed in 2021. Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute said –

“The current UK furniture flammability standard leads to high levels of flame retardants inside upholstered furniture without providing a significant fire safety benefit. These toxic flame retardant chemicals end up inside our bodies, increasing the risk of cancer, neurological, reproductive and other serious health harm. In the United States, we updated our furniture standard in 2013 to a smoulder test that maintains fire safety without the need for flame retardants. Flame retardant levels in US homes and people have decreased and we are healthier as a result. This consultation puts the UK on track to deliver the same benefits to our friends in the UK.”

Fire death rate trends in California illustrate that fire deaths due to upholstered furniture fires have not increased since adopting the new furniture flammability standard¹.

Stakeholders can submit their response to the consultation here (Deadline- 23rd June 2026)

The UK Furniture and Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations

The current UK FFRs do not reflect real world scenarios and have resulted in the use of large volumes of chemical flame retardants in furniture, contributing to the exceptionally high chemical flame retardant exposure rates recorded amongst the UK public². Many other countries with less prescriptive furniture fire safety requirements (including in the EU and USA), have demonstrated similar declines in fire fatality trends to the UK without relying on chemical flame retardant, casting significant doubt over the effectiveness of the UK’s current approach to regulation^2-4. This combined with growing evidence of the detrimental health and environmental effects of CFRs, has resulted in calls to amend the UK’s current outdated furniture fire safety regulations to reduce reliance on flame retardant chemicals and enable safe and sustainable fire safety.

Sustainable Fire Safety

Although current regulations do not mandate the use of CFRs, they are often seen as the most cost-effective way of manufacturers passing current furniture fire safety requirements. However, the harmful impacts of chemical flame retardant exposure to human and environmental health has led to increased scrutiny. Many chemical flame retardants have been connected with significant health concerns, including abnormalities in neurological and reproductive development, cancer, and hormone disruption^3-5. They have been shown to readily pollute the environment, being found in household dust, air, water, soil, and numerous wildlife species across the globe, with documented adverse effects to behaviour, fertility and survival rates ^4,6–9. Chemical flame retardant have also been linked to increased fire smoke toxicity, increasing risks to firefighters and fire victim’s health.

A number of previously commonly used chemical flame retardants have subsequently been classified as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), with more expected to receive this classification in the future. POPS are a class of chemical pollutants which persist for a long time and are mobile in the environment, are bio-accumulative and have harmful impacts to human and environmental health. POPs are banned internationally under the Stockholm convention¹⁰.  The potential presence of harmful legacy flame retardants in furniture means waste items have to be destroyed, predominantly by incineration. This places the financial burden for disposal of furniture on local councils, current disposal prices ranging up to £500 per sofa, due to the presence of chemical flame retardants listed as POPs and undermining the circular economy.

Fidra has worked closely with stakeholders from across the furniture industry to identify pragmatic solutions. Based on evidence collated in Fidra’s Evidence Review, and discussions furniture industry experts and policy makers, it is clear that there is a wealth of opportunity to promote innovative furniture products that achieve effective and sustainable fire safety in the UK without the use of CFRs. This aligns with the consultation’s stated aim to “maintain a high level of fire safety while meaningfully reducing chemical flame retardant use”.

Calling for change

Fidra’s Sustainable Fire Safety project aims to reduce the reliance on harmful chemical flame retardants to meet UK FFRs, and improve standards of chemical transparency. We are working alongside the furniture and mattress industries to demonstrate pragmatic solutions that ensure safe, effective and sustainable fire safety. Fidra is asking that UK government update the UK FFRs, to enable safe and sustainable fire safety by:

• Revising the outdated UK Furniture and Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations (FFRs) 1988 to modernise regulations and reduce reliance on chemical flame retardants.
• Bring smoke toxicity within scope of the FFRs.
• Uses the ongoing FFRs review as an opportunity to move away from current prescriptive flammability testing standards and exclude unrealistic flaming ignition sources to enable sustainable fire safety without the use of chemical flame retardants.
• Mandate chemical labelling and sound chemical management practices, ensuring that consumers, manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and waste operators have information on chemical flame retardants when still used in furniture products and materials.
• Drive innovation towards safe and sustainable furniture product design that does not rely on harmful chemicals.

Concerns over the impacts of chemical flame retardant use are well documented, from sofas having to be incinerated rather than recycled due to chemical flame retardant presence, to the increase in smoke toxicity due to chemical flame retardant use impacting fire victims, and the health and environmental impacts of chemical flame retardant that leak out of furniture into people, pets and wildlife. Safer alternatives are already being used around the world and by progressive companies in the UK to deliver fire safety without high levels of CFRs.  Fidra welcome the proposed changes to regulations that ensure effective fire safety whilst reducing reliance on chemicals.

Stakeholders can submit their response to the consultation here (Deadline- 23rd June 2026).

• You can find further information and resources on Sustainable Fidra Safety at fidra.org.uk
• Read Fidra’s Sustainable Fire Safety Policy Brief.
• Read Fidra’s responses to the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture consultation’

References

1. Green Science Policy Institute (2026) Webinar Recap: Purchasing Fire-Safe Healthier Furniture Retrieved online May 27, 2026 from: https://greensciencepolicy.org/news-events/blog/webinar-recap-purchasing-fire-safe-healthier-furniture.
2. Fidra (2023) Managing Chemicals of Concern within a Circular Economy: The Impacts and Solutions for Chemical Flame Retardant Use in UK Mattresses An Evidence Review by Fidra from: https://www.fidra.org.uk/download/circular-economy-chemicals/.
3. House of Commons EAC (2019) Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life – Environmental Audit Committee – House of Commons from: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmenvaud/1805/180502.htm.
4. Page J, Whaley P, Bellingham M, Birnbaum LS, Cavoski A, Fetherston Dilke D, Garside R, Harrad S, Kelly F, Kortenkamp A, Martin O, Stec A, & Woolley T (2023) A new consensus on reconciling fire safety with environmental & health impacts of chemical flame retardants Environ Int, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2023.107782.
5. The Cancer Prevention and Education Society (2019) Written evidence submitted by the Cancer Prevention and Education Society from: https://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/environmental-audit-committee/toxic-chemicals/written/97438.html.
6. Verreault J, Gabrielsen GW, Chu S, Muir DCG, Andersen M, Hamaed A, & Letcher RJ (2005) Flame retardants and methoxylated and hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers in two Norwegian Arctic top predators: glaucous gulls and polar bears Environ Sci Technol 39(16) 6021–6028.
7. Wolschke H, Meng X-Z, Xie Z, Ebinghaus R, & Cai M (2015) Novel flame retardants (N-FRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in fish, penguin, and skua from King George Island, Antarctica Mar Pollut Bull 96(1–2) 513–518.
8. Papachlimitzou A, Barber JL, Losada S, Bersuder P, Deaville R, Brownlow A, Penrose R, Jepson PD, & Law RJ (2015) Organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs) and plasticisers in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded or bycaught in the UK during 2012 Mar Pollut Bull 98(1–2) 328–334.
9. Walker L, Moeckel C, Dos Santos Pereira G, Potter E, Chadwick E, & Shore R (2017) Flame retardants in the livers of the Eurasian otter collected from Scotland between 2013 and 2015 .
10. Stockholm Convention (2024) Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) from: https://www.pops.int/TheConvention/Overview/tabid/3351/Default.aspx.