Urethane Blog

PFA Spring Meeting

June 7, 2018

Polyurethane Foam Association Spring Meeting Charts
Action on Key Industry Issues
Association Emphasizes Industry Advocacy

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (June 6, 2017)—The Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) recently
concluded its spring member meeting, which engaged member company executives in discussion of
key industry issues and strategies for resolving them.

PFA’s two-day meeting in late May brought together more than 160 executives from foam
manufacturers, chemical suppliers, equipment providers and other industry segments. Participants
delved into priority industry issues, including furniture and mattress flammability, environmental
emissions, and occupation safety. The meeting included three roundtable discussions featuring
industry experts on Isocyanates, Flame Retardants, and VOCs In Auto and Home Interior
Environments. The roundtable meetings included audience interaction with the presenters, and
moderators recorded action items for the association to address in the coming months.
“PFA delivers substantial ROI for its membership,” said Chip Holton of NCFI Polyurethanes,
President of PFA. “At this meeting, it was easy to see that our association takes a proactive role in
helping members understand and shape critical industry issues.”

Holton said that within the last year, PFA has gone to bat for the membership on:
Flammability Standards. PFA advanced advocacy leading the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) to drop development of its 277 standard. That proposal would have applied
large open flame testing to residential furniture. Research determined that this risk was much less
than the potential for smolder ignition and may not be addressable in a cost-effective manner.
Resulting testing costs would have been significant. and reducing the potential for large open flame
ignition likely would require reformulation of foam sold into the furniture industry.

Furniture Flammability Testing. PFA is currently overseeing round robin cigarette testing of
upholstered furniture components at labs across the country. Results will be used to help

decisionmakers weigh the reliability of California Technical Bulletin 117-2013 as the basis for a
national furniture flammability standard.

Isocyanates. PFA is at work with U.S. states and Canadian provinces to show how our industry
protects its workers through proven detection and exposure prevention systems. The Roundtable
session highlighted the need to share research on workplace safety achievements and end-product
integrity.

Flame Retardants. PFA works closely with stakeholders to ensure that possible restrictions on the
use of certain flame retardants are appropriate to the potential health risk and do not cause
unintended problems for consumers.

PFA also updated the membership on a website, www.flexfoamjobs.com, which solicits and
provides entry-level resumes for PFA member companies. The site also features video presentations
on foam production topics that members can use for both recruitment and training.
The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to help educate foam
users, allied industries and other stakeholders. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and
safety issues and technical information on the performance of FPF in consumer and industrial
products. FPF is used as a key comfort component in most upholstered furniture and mattress
products, along with automotive seating, carpet cushion, packaging, and numerous other
applications.

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