Massachusetts, USA, Issues Final Regulations for Law Banning Covered Products Containing Certain Flame Retardants

SafeGuardSToys and Juvenile Products, Softlines, HardgoodsMay 29, 2025

SG 072/25

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has issued final regulations to restrict 11 flame retardants (FR) in five categories of consumer goods.

In January 2021, Massachusetts approved H4900 (Chapter 261 of the Acts of 2020) to regulate 11 specified FR in five categories of products. According to the law, a manufacturer or retailer must not sell, offer or manufacture for sale, distribute in commerce or import into the Commonwealth a covered product, except for inventory manufactured prior to December 31, 2021, that contains any of the 11 listed FR or a chemical analog the total weight of which exceeds 1,000 ppm for any component part of the covered product (SafeGuardS 7/21).

Under the law, the term ‘covered product’ means bedding, carpeting, children’s products, residential upholstered furniture or window treatments.

The law also directs the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to triennially review, identify and recommend, if applicable, other FRs that should be prohibited if the agency determines that they may have a negative impact on human health or the environment.

In 2022, the MassDEP filed the ‘proposed new regulation 310 CMR 78.00: Ban of Covered Products Containing Certain Flame Retardants’ with the state’s Secretary and subsequently consulted over this proposed new law prior to finalizing the regulations.

On May 9, 2025, Massachusetts announced the final regulations for its ‘Ban of Covered Products Containing Certain Flame Retardants’ law (the Final Regulations). The announcement contains, among other things, the text for the Final Regulations and MassDEP’s response to public comments on the proposed new regulation.

From MassDEP’s response to public comments on the proposed new regulation, the published Final Regulations contain several important clarifications or changes:

Provides a definition for ‘Chemical Abstract Service’, ‘Chemical Analogue’, ‘Nanometer’ and ‘Retailer’
Defines ‘Window Treatment’ as curtain materials, blinds or shades intended for indoor residential or indoor commercial use
Clarifies that ‘Department’ means the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
Emphasizes that a manufacturer or retailer must not sell, offer or manufacture for sale, distribute in commerce or import into the Commonwealth a covered product that contains any listed chemical FR or chemical analogs, the combined total of which exceeds 1,000 ppm for any component part of the covered product (see Table 1)
Exempts six categories of products
Prohibits a covered product containing any quantity of an engineered nano-object form of any listed chemical FR or chemical analog
Directs manufacturers and retailers to maintain records for demonstrating compliance with the FR requirements. These must be made available to the MassDEP if requested

Highlights of the Final Regulations are summarized in Table 1

Flame retardant (FR)	Scope¹	Requirement	Effective date
Antimony trioxide Chlorinated paraffins HBCD OctaBDE PentaBDE TBB TBBPA TBPH TCEP TCPP TDCPP	Bedding Carpeting Products for children 12 years of age or under Residential upholstered furniture Window treatments for indoor residential or indoor commercial use	≤ 1,000 ppm (sum of FR)	December 31, 2021
¹Exempts the following six product categories: i) inventory manufactured prior to December 31, 2021, ii) motor vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles or any component parts, iii) second-hand products containing a prohibited chemical FR or chemical analogs, iv) electronic devices, v) electronic components of covered products and vi) covered products that contain chemical FR or chemical analogs in prohibited/restricted amounts due to the presence of recycled materials used during the manufacture of the covered product

Table 1

Entry	Abbreviation	Flame Retardant (FR)	CAS no
1	--	Antimony trioxide	1309-64-4
2	--	Chlorinated Paraffins	85535-84-8
3	HBCD	Hexabromocyclododecane	25637-99-4
4	Octa-BDE	Octabromodiphenyl ether	32536-52-0
5	Penta-BDE	Pentabromodiphenyl ether	32534-81-9
6	TBB	2-Ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate	183658-27-7
7	TBBPA	Tetrabromobisphenol A	79-94-7
8	TBPH	Bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophthalate	26040-51-7
9	TCEP	Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate	115-1496-8
10	TCPP	Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate	13674-84-5
11	TDCPP	Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate	13674-87-8

Table 2

SGS is committed to providing information about development in regulations for consumer products as complimentary services. Through a global network of laboratories, SGS provides a wide range of services including physical/mechanical testing, analytical testing and consultancy work for technical and non-technical parameters applicable to a comprehensive range of consumer products. Contact us for more information or visit our website. In the end, it’s only trusted because it’s tested.

^{© SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA. This publication or website is a property of SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA. All contents including website designs, text, and graphics contained herein are owned by or licensed to SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA. The information provided is for technical and general information purposes only and offers no legal advice. The information is no substitute for professional legal advice to ensure compliance with the applicable laws and regulations. All information is provided in good faith “as is”, and SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, and does not warrant that the information will be error-free or meet any particular criteria of performance or quality.}