When purchasing a car seat for your little one, you must ensure that the car seat is safe and contains no toxic substances.
Unfortunately, the U.S federal flammability regulation has caused most car seat brands to use flame-retardant chemicals in their production.
Nevertheless, you can still find some car seats that are non-toxic and safe for kids. Are Britax car seats safe and non-toxic? That is what we will be looking at in this short article.
Britax is one of the most popular brands for car seats and strollers, and it is known for making top-notch products. We want to find out about the toxicity of Britax car seats and whether they are safe for kids.
Related: Are Britax car seats airline approved? (Read this first!)
Table of Contents
Are Britax Car Seats Non-Toxic?
Britax uses car seat Safewash fabrics that are naturally flame-retardant, hence, making the car seat non-toxic. Britax is one of the few car seat brands that strive to meet federal flammability standards without risking the lives of kids.
According to US law, all car seats sold in the country need to meet the flammability regulation. The purpose of the law is to slow down burning if the materials are exposed to open flames.
For this reason, most brands tend to achieve this regulation by adding chlorinated and brominated chemicals to car seats. Exposing your child to these toxic chemicals over a long period can affect your child’s health.
Most brands have employed different ways of meeting the flammability law without risking the lives of kids. For Britax, it uses a tightly woven fabric construction that is naturally flame-retardant and free from toxic chemicals.
The Health Effects Of Using A Toxic Car Seat
Prolonged exposure to a toxic car seat or using an expired car seat is not good for kids. Some toxic car seats could cause skin irritation to kids when they come in contact with the car seats.
Children have developing organs and tend to be most vulnerable to flame retardants. When exposed to these chemicals for a long time, it could lead to health challenges.
Some of the health challenges associated with flame-retardant car seats include lower IQ, cancer, behavior changes, ADHD, interference with thyroid hormones, etc.
Many believe the federal flammability regulation is outdated and doesn’t provide any benefit to the safety of kids. Apart from the health challenges it poses to kids, it also has environmental effects, which is not good for mother earth.
Humans are exposed to flame retardants by inhaling the air that contains the chemicals, by direct skin contact, or by ingesting. Ingesting can happen when a child touches a seat with toxic chemicals and puts his hands in his mouth.
Recommended: Are Britax car seat bases universal?
A List Of Britax Car Seats That Are Free From Flame Retardants
Most of the recent Britax car seats are free from toxic chemicals. They come with natural flame-retardant covers, making them safe for kids. Below are Britax car seats with naturally flame-retardant covers.
Britax Infant Car Seats
- B-Safe Gen2 (Cobblestone, eclipse black, and greystone)
- B-Safe Gen2 FlexFit (Twilight and cowmooflage)
- B-Safe Gen2 FlexFit+ (Drift and jet)
Britax Convertible Car Seats
- Boulevard ClickTight (Cowmooflage, grey contour, green contour, blue contour, black contour, purple contour)
- Advocate ClickTight (Otto, black ombre, purple ombre, gray ombre, green ombre, blue ombre)
- Marathon ClickTight (Cobblestone, mod black, mod purple, mod ivory, mod blue)
Britax All-In-One Car Seats
- One4Life ClickTight (Cadet, eclipse black, plum, ace black, drift)
Britax Harness-2-Booster Seats
- Grow With You ClickTight (Cobblestone, cowmooflage)
- Grow With You ClickTight Plus (Jet, otto)
Britax Booster Seats
- Highpoint (Green ombre, black ombre, purple ombre, grey ombre)
These are the Britax car seats that have SafeWash fabrics that are free of flame-retardant chemicals. The names in brackets indicate the colors of the car seat.
Are Britax Car Seat Covers Machine Washable?
Some Britax car seat covers are machine washable while others should be washed with cold water and mild soap. To be sure whether your Britax car seat is machine washable, follow the fabric care instructions.
Nevertheless, Britax car seats with SafeWash fabrics are machine washable and dryer-friendly. This makes the whole cleaning process easier and faster for parents.
If the seat manual doesn’t state so, please, do not machine wash, use a dryer, or iron the cover. Doing so would disintegrate the fabric and render it useless within a short time.
Also, there is a limit to which you can wash Britax car seats to prevent fading and maintain optimum quality. According to Britax, you should replace the cover after 30 washes.
You may read this: Are Britax car seats compatible with other strollers?
When To Stop Using A Britax Car Seat?
You should stop using Britax car seats when it expires or is involved in moderate or severe accidents. There is a label on the seat that tells you how long the seat is good for.
In most cases, Britax car seats are good for between 6 and 10 years from the date of manufacture. Britax has different types of car seats, and each has its specific expiry date.
It is always advisable to stick to the expiry dates of car seats to save your child from any impending troubles that may emanate from using an outdated product. Most expired car seats disintegrate and release toxic chemicals.
To get full details on Britax car seats and expiry dates, here’s a complete article that covers Britax car seat expiry dates.
Conclusion – Are Britax Car Seat Safe?
Britax car seats are good and remain one of the safest car seats for kids. The brand is a leader in child safety technology and knows what it takes to make safe and non-toxic car seats.
Britax is striving to be the number one travel system brand and it keeps coming up with innovations that set the company apart.
The recent SafeWash fabrics are naturally flame retardant, meaning that your child won’t come in contact with any added chemicals.
