May 17, 2021 ATLANTA— April 28, 2021 — Today, Chemical Insights, an Institute of Underwriters Laboratories, in conjunction with the Sustainable Furnishings Council, released a toolkit designed to help interior designers specify and select residential upholstered furniture that reduces exposure to flame retardant chemicals. The toolkit, based on the recently released UL 118F Guidance Document, is a set of actionable guidelines that follows years of Chemical Insights’ research into human exposure to flame retardant chemicals as well as processes for reducing furniture flammability and residential fire hazards. As a result of the greater use of synthetic materials and open-floor plans, residential fires in the U.S. burn faster than ever. According to Underwriters Laboratories’ research, residents, who once had 17 minutes to evacuate burning homes 30 years ago, now only have three minutes to get to safety.