Chiang worried about flame retardants in furniture
Until recently, Sue Chiang, 42, had never heard of Firemaster 550.
Five years ago, she grew worried that her old, dusty couch would cause allergies, so she sold it. She and her husband bought a burgundy microfiber sofa at J.C. Penney and plunked it in the living room of the Oakland house they moved into in 2008.
The couple's two kids, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, watch TV on it and build forts with the cushions. When they go to bed, Chiang and her husband sit on it and work on their laptops.
But the couch became cause for alarm when Chiang, a pollution prevention co-director at the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, learned of Blum's study. She sent in a chunk of the foam, and the scientists found elements of Firemaster 550.
"I was worried about this old couch and allergens," Chiang said. "I didn't even think about chemicals."
