This post contains affiliated links. Please read my disclosure page.
Non Toxic Car Seats
Just like any other baby products, car seats for babies and toddlers can be also toxic. Although toxic chemicals in a car seat is not the first thing parents wonder and research about, it should be definitely considered for the safety of our babies and toddlers. Otherwise, babies and toddlers are exposed to hazardous chemicals every time they stay in the car. There are safe car seats available that have no toxic chemicals. You can avoid exposing your kids to toxic chemicals in the car. In this post, let’s look at how a car seat can be toxic to a baby or a toddler and check out safe, non toxic car seats available.
Infant Car Seat And Convertible Car Seat
There are two types of car seats for babies and toddlers: An infant car seat and a convertible car seat. An infant car seat can be used from birth. It has a weight and height limit the seat can be used up to. Uppa Baby Mesa infant car seat, for example, can be used from 4 to 35 lbs, or up to 32 inch height. Most toddlers reach the height limit first which is at around 12-19 months. Then they will move on to a convertible car seat which is a next step. Convertible car seat can be used from infant stage to toddler stage ( up to 65 lbs, up to 49 inches tall). It can also be used from birth at 4-5 lbs. A convertible car seat supports much more weight and height of a child than an infant car seat, therefore, you can use it longer.
Another major difference between an infant car seat and a convertible car seat is a car seat’s ability to attach to a stroller. An infant car seat can be attached to a stroller. Therefore, parents can remove the car seat from the car and place it on top of the stroller when baby is in sleep. On the other hand, a convertible car seat can not be attached to a stroller. For this reason, some parents choose to buy an infant car seat first then move onto a convertible car seat. They want to be able to move a baby to a stroller without waking the baby up. In addition, the car seat is specifically built for an infant so it fits better especially if you have preemies. However, others skip an infant car seat and buy a convertible car seat from the beginning. Most convertible car seats can be used from 4-5 lbs in rear-facing then they can be switched to front facing for a toddler later. I bought an infant car seat first then moved on to a convertible car seat. For me, I wanted to be able to take the car seat out of the car and attach it to a stroller. (You can read my ‘Uppa Baby Mesa Infant car seat review’.)
Problem With Most Car Seats
When you are buying a car seat for your baby, your main concern is your baby’s safety from collision. Therefore, when buying a car seat, parents mainly focus on the safety features of the car seat. However, car seats that we buy for our babies have toxic chemicals that our babies breathe in every time they are in the car. All car seats have to pass the federal fire standard test. In order to pass the test, car seat manufacturers use flame retardant chemicals. Toxicity of flame retardant chemicals is not something we usually think about when buying a car seat. However, flame retardant chemicals are in fact, very hazardous to our babies’ health.
Ecology Center has tested 12 brands of car seats in 2015 (15 car seats) for heavy metals and flame retardant chemicals. Almost every car seat tested contained one or more known flame retardant chemicals in the result. (Car Seat Study Overview and Consumer Guide 2015) In 2016, 16 car seats were tested, all of the car seats contained flame retardant chemicals. Most of them had brominated flame retardants which are toxic. We buy car seats for safety of our babies and toddlers, however, these toxic flame retardant chemicals can have harmful health effects to them. (Howe Toxic Is Your Child’s Car Seat?)
Flame Retardant Chemicals
A flame retardant slows down the spread of fire and lowers its intensity. Most infant and convertible car seats contain at least one chemical flame retardant in order to meet the federal fire test standard for car interiors and accessories. Commonly used chemicals in flame retardants are brominated, chlorinated, and phosphate-based chemicals. Brominated and chlorinated-based chemicals are also called halogenated and they are toxic & hazardous to our health. Many of these brominated & chlorinated chemical additives are known to be carcinogens, hormone disruptors and developmental toxicants. Brominated or chlorinated flame retardant chemicals include HBCD, TBC, UBC, TCPP and TDCPP. On the other hand, some of halogen-free, phosphate-based chemicals are safer choice for flame retardant.
So how do babies and toddlers get exposed to toxic flame retardant chemicals? Toxic chemicals of flame retardants in the fabric and foam of the car seats settle into the air and babies breathe in them. Babies are more sensitive and susceptible to toxic chemicals. However, they are being exposed to the chemicals that cause thyroid disruption, cancer, learning problems, advanced puberty, lower IQ, reduced fertility, delayed mental and physical development. Actually flame retardant chemicals have no evidence of safety benefit. Kathy Curtis, policy director of Clean New York, a non-profit organization advocating for chemical safety said that polyurethane foam in furniture and baby care products is highly flammable, despite the added flame retardants certain flammability standards require. There are growing concerns that chemicals in flame retardant may not effectively reduce flammability but instead offer harmful chemical effects to our babies and children. (‘Are Flame Retardant Safe? Growing Evidence Says No.’)
Car Seats Without Toxic Flame Retardant Chemicals – Non Toxic Car Seats
Non Toxic Car Seat – Infant Car Seats
Uppa Baby Mesa Infant Car Seat, Henry is the first model to pass the federal fire standard test without using any flame retardant chemicals. (launched in 2017) It is made with a naturally fire retardant wool. Uppa Baby Mesa Infant Car Seat is also one of the best, safest car seat available. (Read my previous post, Uppa Baby Mesa Car Seat Review – Why This Infant Car Seat Is Safe.) Nuna also introduced Pipa Light Infant Car Seat which also has no flame retardant chemicals. Both Uppa Baby Mesa Henry and Nuna Pipa Light car seats are infant car seats. If you are looking for a non toxic convertible car seat, take a look at next options below.
Non Toxic Car Seat – Nuna Pipa Lite Infant Car Seat
Non Toxic Car Seat – Convertible Car Seats
According to Ecology Center’s study, all convertible car seats tested contained one or more flame retardant chemicals in the car seats. However, some brands used toxic chemicals while other brands used safer flame retardant chemicals. In the study, out of 15 car seats, only two car seats were highly recommended as a result of the tests: Britax Marathon Clicktight Convertible Car Seat and Maxi-Cosi Pria 70. They both use halogen-free (breminated-free and chlorinated-free), phosphate-based fire retardant chemicals which is much safer than toxic brominated and chlorinated based chemicals.
Non Toxic Car Seat – Britax Brands
In Ecology Center’s 2015 study, three of Britax car seats were tested along with other brands. (Frontier, Parkway, Marathon) In the test, Britax models contained the least toxic flame retardant chemicals and got the best rankings out of all tested brands. I really like Britax. Britax restricts over 100 chemicals, such as brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, phthalates and metals in their car seats. They have not only made commitment to manufacture less toxic car seats over the years but also make really secure and safe convertible car seats.
Currently, Britax has Britax Marathon Clicktight Convertible Car Seat, Britax Blouvard Clicktight Convertible Car Seat and Britax Advocate Clicktight Convertible Car Seat in convertible car seat category. Britax Marathon Clicktight Convertible Car Seat was highly recommended by Ecology Center in their study. It got tested in both 2015 & 2016 studies and got the best rankings for safety of toxic chemicals. The main difference between these three models are added side head protection. Each model basically has same seats but different protection layers for side head protection. Britax Marathon has 1 layer and Britax Blouvard has a secondary layer which is pillow wings. Britax Advocate has the most protection layers of 3. It has side impact plastic to the outside of the car seat. I personally loved the safest side head protection of Britax Advocate model, therefore, I got this model for my daughter. Besides being a non toxic car seat, I really feel Britax Advocate offers good protection with 3 layers.
Non Toxic Car Seat – More Choice
If you want a more choice, Clek Foonf Rigid Latch Convertible Car Seat was also moderately recommended by Ecology Center in their study.
Final Thoughts
As you can see there are options available for a non toxic car seat. While most of car seats contain toxic flame retardant chemicals, these non toxic car seats will not expose our babies and toddlers to harmful chemicals. That means with these car seats, your baby or toddler is not breathing toxic chemicals every time she/he is in the car. Hopefully, more manufacturers make a change towards a non toxic car seat to protect our babies and toddlers in the future.
You can read my review on Britax Advocate ClickTight convertible car seat in my post, ‘Britax Advocate ClickTight Convertible Car Seat – Safest Convertible Car Seat‘.
If you want to read more about Uppa Baby Mesa infant car seat, check out my review ‘Uppa Baby Mesa Car Seat Review – Why This Infant Car Seat Is Safe‘.
PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WITH YOUR FRIENDS OR LEAVE ME A COMMENT! 🙂
Thank you! I’ve been pouring over endless websites looking for the most current research on chemical free and chemical reduced car seats. Yours has been the most concise thus far. I wish Uppababy made a convertible car seat! But now I feel more confident putting my little one in a Britax. Thanks again. Can I just add, we are a one income family with 3 kids. Buying non toxic bedding, car seats, stroller, toys and so forth, is expensive but I often find gently used second hand items. It has saved us a lot of money and still allows us to provide the best for our kids. Plus, that’s a little less waste in our landfills.
Thank you for your message! I have a Britax Clicktight Advocate car seat and it is wonderful! I feel secure for my baby since it doesn’t have flame retardant chemicals and also has a lot of protection. Using second hand items is a good idea (not for the car seat) since second hand products have already had the chance to off-gas their toxic chemicals if there was any. Also, if you can find non toxic second hand items, it does save you money. Thanks for sharing!
My daughter currently needs both an upgrade cell phone and a new, used not available non-toxic car seat if they would be available they would be overpriced. I’m thinking overcompensation; how nice to have moneys for such items, while the vehicle has vinyl car seats, most leather has vinyl separating the front seat, just under 52PSI of flammable fuel flows back to front just inside the hydraulic lines to the brakes which like the remainder of the vehicle, various assortments of rubber hoses and cables all toxic beyond measure, the house we live in are no less cars in the garage furnace hot water heater…the varnish or urethane on the floors will kill you. What is important today is making do with what we have instead of furthering our trash give away to China and local dump sites. Buy new includes 10 times the boxes and trash involved just to get them to the stores we destroy 3rd world countries then force them to work in our toxic factories making “non-toxic” infant seats revolving trash and poor value judgments such as buy new, if one had 11 brothers and sisters perhaps they could see more clearly. I guess what I’m saying is what kind of ridiculous promotion for an item that could as easily be done without than with; it will neither protect the child from its surrounding than a keyless entry keep a would be thief from entering your vehicle or a lock on the car wash the thief will take the money perhaps a would be thief may be discouraged what then would we call the parent that buys a non-toxic car seat; a would be?
I totally agree with you on how our surroundings are full of toxic chemicals including furniture, household products, cars, etc. Because of that, I try to eliminate toxic products my baby and family may use. Although it is probably impossible to eliminate every toxic products around my baby and family, I can make a choice on what I buy and what products I choose to have around my family. If you don’t believe in buying non toxic products, it is your choice. I write blogs to help people who are interested in non toxic products like me. I would also certainly get a car seat brand new or at least not too old because car seats have expiration dates. Here is an article about car seat expiration dates. I don’t want to risk my baby’s safety.
Do you know if specific colors were tested for non-toxic convertible car seat? We have an Uppa Baby Henry which I purchased specifically because that was the only color that was non-toxic/wool fabric in Spring 2017. We are looking at Maxi Cosi 70 but heard that the “blue base” (older model/color) was the only one tested…? Anything else you saw in report about what exactly was tested with Maxi Cosi 70? Thanks!
Hi Brooke,
Thank you for your message! In Ecology Center’s 2016 Car Seat Study, a sample that was used for testing was Maxi Cosi Pria 70 Blue Base color. However, I believe their testing result refer to all Maxi Cosi Pria 70 colors, not just Blue Base color.
You can see their report here.
UPPAbaby specifically came out with “Henry” color that has no flame retardant chemicals. However, Maxi Cosi Pria 70 blue base is same as other color ones.
Thank you for this wealth of important information. I have recently been hearing reading about the Joolz stroller and car seats. They are an eco-conscious company and marketed similar to bugaboo. Are you able to find any information about their flame retardant chemicals/materials? And how would you compare with bugaboo? Thank you!
Hi Sarah, I haven’t found much information on flame retardant chemicals about Joolz online since it is quite new. I have inquired about flame retardant chemicals to Joolz directly. Once I hear from them, I will get back to you.
Hi Sarah,
I finally heard from Joolz and this is their answers.
Do your strollers and car seats contain flame retardant chemicals?
Joolz products do not contain any flame retardants. To check no flame retardants are present, all materials used by Joolz are tested by independent laboratories on the most stringent chemical requirements in the world. This includes all flame retardants restricted by various US States (e.g. Washington, Oregon and Minnesota, California) and the European REACH regulation.
What part of car seats and stroller have polyurethane foam in it?
Polyurethane foam is used as filling material in Joolz strollers. The foam is used in the mattress, padding of the harness straps and in the bassinet wall.
Is it treated with flame retardant chemicals?
The polyurethane foam is not treated with any flame retardant.
Hope this helps!
Hello,
I have also been researching a lot on non-toxic baby products. My husband and I purchased a Peg Perego s51 completo atmosphere travel system. I read in the car toxic safety report that the Primo Viaggo car seat aquamarine was rated high for toxic chemicals but this was back in 2015/2016. Do you happen to have any info on Peg Perego products? I read in a blog that Peg Perego discontinued the use of toxic materials but can’t find actual evidence. Any information is appreciated! Thanks 😀
Hi Marina,
I contacted Peg Perego and this is what they replied regarding flame retardant chemicals.
Thank you for reaching out to us here at Peg Perego USA.
We do not use flame retardants with our Strollers. In regards to our car seats, Peg Perego would like to phase out the use of all flame retardants in car seats. We have supported the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association’s (JPMA) efforts to change the flammability law for car seats. Attached is a statement from the JPMA along with a link to the new House Bill 5359 seeking to change the flammability law.
Peg Perego has worked with our suppliers to find the best flame retardants for use in our car seats. In May 2016 we began phasing in a new foam for use in car seats. The new foam contains less than 10 ppm of the following flame retardants: TDCP, TCPP, TCEP, TBDE, PBDE, HBDE, EBDE, OBDE, DBDE, TRIS, TEPA, PBB.
Thank you
Hope this helps!
Hello, I’m wondering if you have any information about peg perego. We bought the s51 complete travel system and I’m thinking to return as I am not sure whether peg perego uses flame retardant materials. Any information is helpful!
Hi Marina,
Peg Perego does not use flame retardant chemicals in strollers but they do use in their car seats. They have made a change in their foam and the foam contain less flame retardant chemicals than they did in the past. They told me starting 2016, their car seats contain less than 10 PPM flame retardant chemicals which is lower than a lot of car seats out there. Hope this helps!
Hi Marina,
Peg Perego also send me the following information about their car seats.
Thank you for contacting Peg Perego. In regards to your email the flame
retardant coating that is used in our car seat fabrics is based on a
polyurethane aliphatic phosphonate in a water based solution (I.e. no
solvents are released in the atmosphere during the process). It is also
halogen and heavy metal free. Our car seats are Oeko-Tex standard 100
certified. Our stroller don’t use foam but our car seats do have
polyurethane foam.
They use halogen and heavy metal free flame retardant chemicals. Halogen and heavy metal free flame retardant chemicals are a lot safer than halogenated flame retardant chemicals which are very toxic. Their car seats also use Oeko-Tex stand 100 certified fabrics which means fabrics were tested and certified to be free from harmful levels of more than 100 substances known to be harmful to us.
Hi, do you know how non-toxic Britax’s infant car seats are? Would you say they are as good as the Mesa? We’re trying to decide on an infant car seat while keeping in mind which strollers are compatible. Thanks in advance!
HiTenchi,
UPPAbaby Mesa Henry is one of the most non toxic car seats because it doesn’t use any flame retardant chemicals at all. Almost all car seats use flame retardant chemicals. Mesa Henry is the first car seat that has not used any flame retardant chemicals to meet government fire standard test. Britax, on the other hand, use flame retardant chemicals. However, they use halogen-free (breminated-free and chlorinated-free), phosphate-based fire retardant chemicals which is much safer than toxic brominated and chlorinated based chemicals. Since almost all car seats use flame retardant chemicals, Britax car seats will be one of the safer car seats you can get. However, no flame retardant chemicals will be the best ideally. Although halogen-free flame retardant chemicals are much better choice than halogenated flame retardant chemicals, they are still chemicals. Therefore, if I had a choice, I would choose UPPAbaby Mesa Henry. However, if you choose a Britax car seat, it will still be a much better choice than most car seats out there.
Hi Tenchi,
Here are what Britax said about their use of flame retardant chemicals.
As of January 1, 2013, Britax required all of its suppliers to eliminate certain chemical flame retardants containing bromine, chlorine or other halogens, from all components used in its car seats and all other products — while still ensuring their ability to pass federal government standards for flammability. Britax is pleased to report that all of its suppliers have confirmed they are compliant with Britax’s rigorous internal standards. Strollers do not have flammability standards. Therefore, Britax and BOB strollers are not treated with any chemical flame retardants.
Britax remains committed to working closely with our suppliers to ensure continued leadership in the area of chemical compliance specifications and to informing consumers of our progress. In a recent report, the Ecology Center, (HealthyStuff.org), tested the chemical composition of leading car seats to discover the presence of harmful chemicals. The Britax seats tested were by far the safest of any brand, leading HealthyStuff.org to designate Britax the “Best Overall Child Seat Company” as the gold standard for chemical compliance.
Hi Isabelle,
Thank you for your very informative post! We already have the Britax Marathon Convertible seat and we’re looking into transitioning our oldest into the next seat up (harness & booster). Do you have any information about the Britax Frontier or Britax Pioneer and whether those are non-toxic? Thanks in advance!
Hi Conny,
Britax car seats does not use certain chemical flame retardants containing bromine, chlorine or other halogens, from all components used in its car seats. Their car seats are not free of flame retardant chemicals in order to meet federal government standards for flammability. However, their brand prohibits using over 100 harmful chemicals, such as brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, phthalates and metals in their car seats. Therefore, I would prefer their brand over many other car seats out there. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Isabelle,
Thank you for all the information! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
Thank you, Conny! 🙂
I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it. I have got you bookmarked to look at new stuff you post…|
Thank you!
Hi Isabelle,
Have you found any information of the Nuna Rava convertable car seat? It seems like it doesn’t have any flame retardants but I’m wondering about other potential toxic components.
Thank you!
ig
Hi Irene,
Nuna Rava just debuted in summer 2019. As you have mentioned, it doesn’t use any flame retardants. Flame retardants are the most concerning part of car seats since most car seats contained them. I will be adding this car seat and update this post soon. So far, the car seat looks pretty good. I will look in to it further and inform you if I feel there is anything that cause concerns.
Dear Isabelle, I was going to buy 3 in 1 uppababy stroller, including a car seat, but found the information that it has been disqualified from ADAC test in Autumn 2019 (safety test carried out in Germany) because it contained TCPP flame retardant which is toxic. I was really disappointed with this fact and now I’m afraid that the stroller itself may contain the same toxic chemical. Is it possible to check this?
Hi Evgenia,
I tried to look for information regarding UppaBaby being disqualified due to flame retardant online but I couldn’t find any.
Where did you see this information?
UppaBaby said the following regarding flame retardants on their stroller.
All UPPAbaby strollers currently being manufactured do not have flame-retardants. UPPAbaby uses an independent, internationally accredited testing lab to test products regularly to ensure they meet the most up to date ASTM & JPMA compliance standards, state and federal governmental testing requirements. For more information on these standards please visit the following resources.
http://jpma.org
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/
UPPAbaby has strong internal chemical policies and their car seats are known to be one of the most chemically safe car seats. UPPAbaby is also known to be one of the most chemically safe car seat companies.
You can read recent Ecology Center’s Healthy Stuff company ranking survey here.
Hope this helps!