TV Reality: Toxic Flame Retardants in TVs

9/20/2017 Toxic-Free Future & Clean Production Action Publications

Televisions have historically contained large amounts of flame retardants, which scientists believe has contributed to the presence of toxic flame retardants in the home environment. Makers of televisions don’t have to report what chemicals are in their products, so policymakers, scientists, and the public have been in the dark about what flame retardants are currently used in TVs.
We tested 12 television enclosures (the plastic outer portion) for seven types of flame retardants to find out what harmful flame retardants might be hiding in our TVs. We found flame retardants were present in 11 of the 12 TVs, at concentrations of up to 33%, or one-third by weight, in the plastic enclosures.

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