Advocate Health Care, Beaumont Health System, Hackensack University Medical Center and University Hospitals will stop purchasing furniture treated with flame retardant chemicals, according to an article on the Market Wired website.
These health systems represent 7,000 patient beds throughout Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio.
Together with Kaiser Permanente's similar announcement in June, these health systems are leading a movement within the health care sector to transition away from flame retardant chemicals commonly found in furniture, the article said. The five health systems spend nearly $50 million a year on furniture for their facilities.
"Hospitals take very seriously the links between chemicals in the environment and rising rates of disease," Gary Cohen, president and founder of Health Care Without Harm and the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, said in the article. "They are committed to creating healing environments, free from products containing chemicals linked to chronic diseases."
The move is driven by a California flammability standard — allowing furniture manufacturers to meet the standard without the addition of hazardous flame retardant chemicals. Moreover, the presence of automatic sprinkler systems and prohibition on indoor smoking significantly reduces concerns about fires in hospital facilities.
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