LCA says furniture foam FR health positive

LCA study of a sofa with and without melamine as FR in foam concludes overall health benefits of FR use, comparing toxicity risk of FR presence to health impacts of avoided fires. The study models a three-seat sofa with wooden frame, polyurethane foam cushions and armrest foams, synthetic leather upholstering and ABS stands, with or without 10% melamine in the foam. LCA covers manufacturing (with and without FR), use and end of life (municipal incineration with energy recovery). The main impacts on the LCA are from production of the wooden frame, production of the polyurethane foam and end-of-life disposal. The FR has little impact on these. The fire prevention benefit of fire-resistant sofas is estimated at 1.2 person fatalities per million sofas per year (from Runefors 2023). Health risk of melamine, taking into account its Classification, is based on USEtox (UNEP LCA Initiative), is “negligible”. The reduction in health impacts of the sofa over its life cycle, from inclusion of the flame retardant, are estimated at 72 -84%.

“Are melamine flame retardants in sofas beneficial from a life cycle perspective?”, R. Aggarwal et al., RSC Sustainability, 2026, 4, 1593 https://doi.org/10.1039/d6su00022c The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Photo: Shutterstock 2634260281