Toxic Prams?!

[boysinwells]

Looking to buy a pram / stroller and having done my research, including looking at German Which! equivalent "Stiftung Warentest", they flagged concerns with toxic materials used in strollers, some cancer risk increasing stuff used in fabrics and handles. I was trying to contact UK manufacturers, and got answers from most, the only ones that are utterly evasive are egg. They totally brushed me off, still no reply on my question on whether they use fire retardants in their fabrics...I like the stroller / pram much, but their attitude worries me - is there something to hide? Some of the Joolz, Mama's and Papa's, Cybex strollers have had terrible levels of toxins, I am very worried, especially since I have a cancer child already. I wish I would get a clear answer, and I wish manufacturers wouldn't use (cheaper?!) toxic materials as it is perfectly possible to use non-toxic ones as some manufacturers do (but don't like their prams as much..)..Have you had any luck contacting manufacturers, in particular egg strollers, about pram questions?

I've never heard of this- well done for doing your research. We got a city mini gt. will look into this now. I did wash all the bedding as I think lots of fabric leave factories with chemical residues etc. sorry to hear about your other child.

I don't know how uppa baby would fair but I thought they used non toxic/recyclable materials?
I would have thought Scandinavian prams might be pretty good, tend to be more Eco aware?
It's pretty scary, haven't heard anything about this before.
Can you link to the study or is it in German?!

Hi there, have you thought about buying second hand and washing everything? I have an older Bugaboo Frog and every part of it has been washed numerous times so I doubt very much whether there could be any chemicals remaining. It has also had time (years!) to to be aired etc. I think it might be more difficult with car seats...

Try the Swedish pram Emmaljunga - very little plastic (depending on which pram), traditional old fashioned but good pram which are hand made still.

You could always wrap a carrycot mattress with a babesafe cover or better still buy an organic mattress to fit.

There's unfortunately going to be fire retardant on most if not all due to the regulations, same with bed mattresses and sofas. I think it's most dangerous with smaller babies sleeping and breathing in.

www.inhabitots.com/top-strollers-for-green-babies/

peaceloveorganicmom.com/2013/12/top-3-non-toxic-and-eco-friendly-strollers-for-baby.html

This is a pretty comprehensive list of many baby items and for different budgets
blog.totscoop.com/the-complete-guide-to-non-toxic-baby-products/

Sorry about your other child too, that must be very tough. I hope you find some products that help give you a bit of peace of mind.

Yes I am aware of the studies. The research is the reason why in Germany raincovers have not been made of pvc for example. There are issues around fire retardants as well which are a bit dodgy and the pvc covering many mattresses.
I used to get my prams from a german website called babyonlineshop.de
Teutonia used to be quite good. Had a 2nd hand emmaljunga with my last baby and it was great. The other option is what a previous poster suggested if you get an older pram most of the toxins will have evaporated and have been washed out of fabrics. Warentest and oekotest do fairly in depth studies.
There used to be a completely organic pram available. Will check it out and report back. My info is old as long past the baby stage.

The ceo pram is still manufactured in Austria. The company's website is www.naturkind.at

Sorry eco pram

I am German so always check the German consumer tests as well, here is a summary (in German), in case someone can read it, but here's also a couple in English that worried me. Joolz was one that used naphtalene, a carcinogenic. It's just outrageous, and all they say is 'we stick to British standards', but the standards unfortunately don't call for toxin free! Second hand is a good idea, ordering one abroad where standards are stricter might be another. Thanks for your answers and wishes xx

www.test.de/Kinderwagen-Nur-ein-Wagen-ueberzeugt-im-Test-4805700-0/

kemi.taenk.dk/bliv-groennere/every-other-pushchair-contain-problematic-chemicals

www.naturalnursery.ie/blogs/news/17268657-which-pram-test-results-which-might-interest-you

Just hoping to re-animate this thread as I think the subject matter is really important. Thanks so much boysinwells for highlighting this issue, and so sorry to hear about your DC. I feel so ignorant about any of this but after reading some of the linked articles I'm very concerned. Would anyone happen to know if there are any UK listings
of non-toxic products? A lot of the products referred to are American. Also based on much that was discussed, would anyone know whether the sleepyhead deluxes are a bad purchase? Was thinking If getting one each for my twins due in 2 weeks but now having second thoughts.

I have had an answer from egg strollers' Technical Director, Ant Butters:

" I can’t add further to my original comments that we comply with current regulations. I have studied the ‘candidate list’ issued by REACH and I can’t see that PAH, naphtalene appears on the list, this does not mean that it will not be added in the future or indeed that it will be added. Following a recent course I attended that was organised by REACH I was led to believe that the current list of SVHC’s currently standing at 163 could easily become more than 1000.

UK law requires that we follow the same Fire Retardants regulations as used in upholstered domestic furniture, if you home furniture was manufactured in the UK the it will comply with these regulations. Strollers produced outside the UK do not have to comply with these regulations and therefore are in general terms free from fire retardant material."

So - in the UK it is currently okay (and even required) to use flame retardants, which are known to be toxic, even cancerous, and which are in no way proven to work. He is correct, of course, that they do not only affect baby products. Overall, this freaks me out completely. Here is what I will do:

• buy everything in organic as much as I can, i.e. clothes, anything baby lies, on, is wrapped in, plays with
• wash everything else with soap (laundry detergent does NOT get rid of flame retardants for obvious reasons, soap will) and air it for several weeks before baby is due in June

Sometimes I wish I lived on the continent...and even the US has already changed their laws with regards to flame retardants, etc (US products, but has some good tips: blog.totscoop.com/the-complete-guide-to-non-toxic-baby-products/)

I am shocked and sad but there is only so much one can do. I wish the UK government would do more, I mean..if even the Technical Director of a baby product company (egg is part of babystyle) needs to research this subject first, isn't that rather worrying..?!

Good luck to you all!
xx

We bought an Orbit Baby for this reason amongst others. Good luck OP

Aimee, I think the sleepyheads aren't a terrible choice, this is what it says in the product description:
www.amazon.co.uk/Sleepyhead-Deluxe-Months-Pristine-White/dp/B00ACK676E

Hello boysinwells thanks for your reply. The description does says it uses flame retardants and anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agents so this makes me hold back. I really want to get them for my twins but now really worrying about the cancerous effect. This is all extremely concerning and there also seems to be a lack of information about it.

hi everyone,

anyone looking for the eco pram naturkind, it's available in uk :-).
Toxic free and also no fire retardant used.
Please check out www.myfamilyshop.eu

A few points on this. The UK's furniture flammability regulations apply to (in this case) prams/buggies that are supplied in the UK. This means it's perfectly legal for you to buy a non-UK pram from a company that is supplying outside the UK (e.g. via the internet). But if say Naturkind (link above) are supplying in the UK then their products must comply.

The UK regulations do not require the use of flame retardant chemicals. The reason most pram/buggy manufacturers use them is because they tend to use cheap materials which can't pass the flammability tests without chemical treatment.

The same regulations apply to nursery mattresses by the way, which means our children are sleeping with their faces next to poisonous flame retardants.

You may be interested to know that the UK government published new proposals in August 2014 that would have allowed manufacturers to instantly reduce flame retardant use by half and to cut them out altogether with new technologies freed up by the new tests. However, due to lobbying from the chemical industry these new regulations failed to be implemented in April 2015 when they were due, and look like being blocked for some time to come.

Its been a while since this topic has been published but I hope this info will still be useful to some of you.
I own Uppababy Vista and I have noticed fire retardant tag on toddler seat while several blogs online stated that they don't use them. I have contacted seller and they have explained to me that since Im based in Ireland they have to use it by law as well as in the UK.
I have started looking for a better alternatives and contacted Stokke and they have stated the same. Basically they don't use fire retardants in other European countries but they have to in the same models stocked in UK& Ireland stores and when you are purchasing online. They even have different product codes for it.
I am travelling to Spain next week anyways and planning to buy one over there.
I hope they will get rid of this stupid law soon...