Furniture Brands Without a Prop 65 Warning

What is Prop 65

Proposition 65 is a warning label for Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Any product that is sold in California will have this label even at retailers outside of California. 

The list contains naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals. It is updated yearly and there are currently 900 chemicals on the list in 2024. 

Exposure Limit?

Technically this label is for “significant exposures” and the chemicals need not be listed if “the exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer or is significantly below levels observed to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.” 

However, in reality, the exposure risk is not usually calculated and you will still see the label if the products contain only trace levels of the Prop 65 chemicals or even when the chemicals are enclosed within the product and there is no reasonable way to gain exposure to them. 

Are Companies Adding This to Everything?

It does seem like there are companies that add this to all their products even though they might not contain a chemical on the list, if the exposure is extremely minimal, or exposure is not expected with regular use. 

There is no penalty for providing an unnecessary warning, this part is frustrating to me. 

You will often see the statement that a company “has elected to provide the Proposition 65 notice out of an abundance of caution in order to avoid the potential for liability.” 

For example, with furniture, you often see a warning for wood dust, even though most people will not be cutting up their furniture.

I’ll go over which Prop 65 chemicals are commonly found in furniture, and which brands have the label and which brands don’t. The focus here is on brands that also have some other eco-friendly specs.

This post contains affiliate links. Upon purchase, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Possible Prop 65 chemicals in furniture:

• Wood dust is carcinogenic, and this is the most common Prop 65 warning on furniture. While you generally are not going to cut up your new furniture, there could be small amounts of wood dust in the box or on the product.
• Formaldehyde is released from most composite wood (for example, MDF, HDF, particleboard, and plywood) and coatings (for example, some paints and lacquers). This is the second most common reason for a Prop 65 warning on furniture. If you want to see the formaldehyde levels from various composite wood products see this post.
• Flame retardants – possible in a few select brands and some imported furniture still, the toxic FR chemicals are rarely seen in American brands of furniture now.
  • Added to some polyurethane foams, textiles used in upholstered furniture, mattresses, and certain children’s products before 2020 when California banned such use. Flame retardants and related chemicals may also be added to plastics.  
  • These include: Antimony trioxide, chlorinated tris (also known as TDCPP or TDCIPP), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), and pentabromodiphenyl ether (PentaBDE) mixture [DE-71 (technical grade)].
• Phthalates are a group of chemicals added to vinyl to make it flexible. Phthalates may be used in vinyl textiles (PVC faux leather) on cushions and other upholstery. It can also be an unintentional chemical found in recycled PET.
• Titanium dioxide and carbon black are pigments in paints. These are only a risk when inhaled in dust form. But you still often see this warning on paints/painted furniture.
• Benzene and toluene are solvents found in solvent-based paints, they do flash off with time but you could see a warning for these on painted items.
• BPA or other bisphenols are added to epoxy and polycarbonate plastic.
• Antimony is often a residual chemical left over in polyester (as well as a part of some flame retardants mentioned above). Most companies do not list a Prop 65 warning for Antimony on their polyester, likely because it’s found in such low amounts. (It’s also possible to make polyester without Antimony).
• Lead is found in almost all brass and you will often see the Prop 65 warning on brass items, it can also be found in polyurethane foam (even CertiPUR allows for some lead), and recycled PET as well.
• Nickel is part of stainless steel. Nothing to worry about in solid form in furniture.
• Chromium is found in most leather products unless they are marked as chrome-free. It can also be used in textile dyes. It’s also part of the metals chrome and stainless steel.

Eco-Friendly Furniture Without a Prop 65 Warning

1. Medley

Medley – Medley makes sofas, upholstered furniture, and solid wood furniture (a few items have plywood).

Materials: Many of their upholstered items can be made with natural latex instead of polyurethane foam. They don’t use flame retardants. They use solid wood in most of their furniture (some plywood on a few items), 0-VOC stains, and no PFAS on the fabrics. They offer chrome-free, vegetable-tanned leather (the top of the line in terms of safe leather).

Only their upholstered items with polyurethane foam contain a Prop 65 warning for formaldehyde which is used in the plywood. They use plywood made with phenol-formaldehyde which is the safest type and is very fast to offgas when it’s used in plywood. It’s also not possible to guarantee polyurethane foam is free of all Prop 65 chemicals including a low level of lead. Even CertipPUR certifications allows for some lead. Though based on Tamara Rubins testing this doesn’t seem to come through the fabric.

2. Green Cradle

Green Cradle makes 100% solid wood bedroom furniture, either unfinished or finished with linseed oil. They have dressers, chests, armoires, bookcases, nightstands, and cribs.

None of their furniture carries a Prop 65 warning.

3. West Elm

For West Elm, in terms of furniture items, I am only seeing a Prop 65 Warning on items that contain brass (because the brass contains lead).

4. Pottery Barn

As far as I can see Pottery Barn only issues the Prop 65 warning on items that come into contact with food that contain lead as well as a lamp that contains lead.

Pottery Barn does have a GreenGuard Gold section, which ensures a low level of VOC offgassing from the product.

5. The Futon Shop

The Futon Shop makes sofas, bedframes, mattresses, and more. They don’t have any products with Prop 65 warnings, they said in an email and in chat.

6. Savvy Rest

The beds from Savvy Rest are made from solid wood and 0-VOC stains. They also make a simple solid wood bench and bedside table.

Their sofas and upholstered chairs are made with only solid maple in the frame (no plywood or particleboard), GOTS-certified organic upholstery (hemp and/or cotton), natural latex options for the cushions, and the option of linseed oil, a zero-VOC stain or unfinished feet.

No flame retardants are used and there are no stain-resistant coatings.

They do use the Prop 65 warning but only for wood dust. However, wood dust is not a concern once you have cleaned up any dust (with PPE) that was in the box. They do wipe down the products before packaging so you are not likely to encounter wood dust but since there is no threshold on how much wood dust is OK in the Prop 65 labeling they felt like they have to include the warning.

7. Crate and Barrel

Crate and Barrel requires its products to comply with California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) either by reformulation or if reformulation is not possible, by including warning labeling and signage (source).

I did not find any items on their website with the warning, but be sure to check both the website (when browsing from California) and/or the box/packaging of the item.

Crate and Barrel will not accept products intended to come into contact with food that exceed the allowable limits of Prop 65, and the Company’s strong preference for all products is to have a product made either completely free of chemicals listed under Prop 65, or with chemical content below Prop 65 safe harbor levels or the established settlement limits (source).

8. Room and Board

Under “additional information” on the product page you can see which items have a Prop 65 warning (you may need to be browsing the internet from California to see this). I saw warnings for formaldehyde on some of their sofas, presumedly from engineered wood products.

They have lots of products without the Prop 65 warning.

Room and Board uses no added flame retardants, no PFAS, no added phthalates, no added antimicrobials.

They also say they encourage water-based finishes on wood surfaces and they encourage water-based adhesives and glues.

9. IKEA

IKEA reps said in a chat in 2024 that none of their furniture has a Prop 65 warning. (Chat reps from various companies are not always accurate).

I have seen people note that, unlike lots of wooden or engineered wood furniture, IKEA does not use the Prop 65 warning for wood dust. They also have banned most of the Prop 65 chemicals like lead, chrome in leather, phthalates, etc.

10. Vermont Woods

Vermont Woods makes furniture with natural, toxic-free, kiln-dried hardwood. Some of their products are made of veneer over plywood. They use water-based glues that are low in chemicals and are sealed into the wood. They use low VOC finishes and once the finish is dried, the VOCs are mostly gone, they say.

Depending on the workshop (brand), they may or may not have the Prop 65 warning, you have to call them about the item you are interested in.

11. Urban Natural

Urban Natural – Many lines/brands they carry use either natural oils and a beeswax finish or a zero-VOC water-based catalyzed varnish finish. The glues vary by manufacturer. One brand uses a Cradle-to-Cradle certified (toxicity level yellow) glue.

There is only a Prop 65 warning for wood dust, which is on almost all their wooden furniture. The customer service rep said on the phone that there are no Prop 65 warnings for anything else like formaldehyde, flame retardants, etc.

12. Viesso

Viesso is a collection of brands that utilize materials with more sustainable sources and less harmful chemicals. MASHStudios for example, avoids nasty VOC-releasing finishes and formaldehyde glues.

I like this store so I wanted to include them on the list, however, they have not responded to emails or phone calls to ask about the Prop 65 warning.

Corinne Segura is an InterNACHI-certified Healthy Homes Inspector with certifications in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. You can book a consult here.

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