Toxic 'Baby Clothes? !!

[Farmfresh]

I had a friend with a baby shower last week and went shopping for a gift. This friend is pretty like minded in her thinking that natures way is the best way. She usually eats as organic as possible, gardens etc.. , so I was really doing my homework to get her a nice gift.

One thing I noticed on most of the cute little baby things was the item was flame retardant. I had to do a little more homework on this one and discovered that most children's sleepwear is "treated" to make it less flammable.

http://www.ei-resource.org/articles/multiple-chemical-sensitivity-articles/toxic-sleep/

It seems that formaldehyde resin is the most often chosen method to treat! So the average child is put to bed smelling formaldehyde gas each night while they sleep.
A good idea?

I think there would be lots of things to worry about with a house fire LONG before my child bursts into flames. What do you all think?

 

[patandchickens]

I believe it was actually a nonzero issue in the past, when smoking was more common -- also more of an issue in places (like around here) where many people have fireplaces or woodstoves.

So I don't think it is a totally imaginary issue.

Given the vast amount of other stuff in a typical household that offgass formaldehyde, I am not sure how big a realistic health issue flame retardants really are -- but, that said, as we do not smoke nor have any other source of sparks or flame in the living quarters of the house, I do tend to try to avoid new clothes with lots of flame retardants in 'em, by washing things a couple times before first wearing and by preferentially buying used stuff from thrift stores. Simply because, in our case, 'why'.

Pat