Foam cushion inserts from popular “non-toxic” Los Angeles-based sofa brand test positive for Lead & Arsenic. This product is marketed as “Lead-free.”

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Introduction (for those new to this website):

Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals), including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic. All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times, to confirm the test results for each component. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023.

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For the latest update on this, click here.

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UPDATE: December 30, 2021

UPDATE: This afternoon I had a GREAT zoom call with the owners of this furniture company. I want you all to know they are a very responsible small business and they are going to fix the issue (which was not something they were aware of at all.) I will be writing a follow up post shortly.

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Original Post, Published: December 29, 2021

Section #1) Brief summary

When tested using XRF technology, the foam cushion inserts (made of CertiPUR-US® certified foam) for Medley Home’s high-end “non-toxic”, “eco-friendly”, “clean”, “sustainable” sofas (Made in Los Angeles) test positive for Lead, in the range of 182 to 312 ppm (some preliminary tests were as high as 500 ppm Lead, test results appear to vary based on foam thickness and density.) Each of the samples of foam also tested positive for trace levels of Arsenic.

The foam that was found to test positive was specifically the foam in the seat cushions (the yellow component in the photo directly above). Preliminary testing of the padded armrests and backrest [of the one sample of the sofa I was able to test in its entirety] did not show any Lead (possibly because the detection readings of those components had to, of necessity, be taken reading through the thick outer fabric, but also possibly because a different material may have been used in those components of the sofa.) Please scroll down for four sets of XRF test results for samples of the foam from two different examples of these Medley Home sofas.

I first tested one of these sofas – and found it to have Lead in the foam – in May of 2021. The sofa I tested at the time was newly-purchased, and had just been delivered to the family (April 2021.) I waited to report on those findings, as I wanted to re-confirm that this was possibly an issue with the brand (and not a batch-specific anomaly). This month a second family sent me samples of the foam from their Medley Home sofa seat cushions to test — and this second sample tested positive for Lead at levels in the same range as the Lead levels found in the first sample. This second sample was purchased in June of 2020.

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Section #2) Concerns and considerations given these findings

The primary concern in finding Lead in these products is that the customer base has specifically chosen this brand because of the clearly-articulated language claiming the product is non-toxic (in several respects) including that it is specifically sold as being a “Lead-free” product [free of heavy metals, including Lead — per the above screenshot from their website]. Many of the customers purchasing these sofas might not have chosen to buy the sofa without this “quality/”specification” being highlighted in the company’s marketing materials.

Specific concerns /considerations:

• The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in the substrate of a product that is manufactured as an item intended for use by children is anything 100 ppm Lead or higher. The foam of these sofas consistently tested positive for Lead at levels above that threshold of concern.
• Children use sofas.
• To my knowledge, sofas are not regulated as “items intended for use by children” so would not likely be considered illegal within the context of the above noted CPSIA regulatory standard. That said, the level of Lead found is still concerning…
• A primary concern that warrants further consideration: Does the Lead in the foam (at the levels found) create / generate Lead-contaminated micro-dust in and around the sofa? This is a reasonable inquiry, as foam in sofas may likely deteriorate over time, with normal use as intended. Lead Safe Mama readers will be helping us with some follow-up dust-wipe sample testing, to see if we can make any determination in this area (more on that below.)

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Continue reading below the image:
A screenshot from the CertiPUR-US® website 

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Section #3) Recommended course of action for the company

An appropriate response to these findings (by the Medley Home team) might include some of the following actions:

1. Given the company’s current stance that they “don’t need to add the [prop 65 warning] label” (see screenshot from the Medley Home website directly below) – likely based on their understanding that the foam of their inserts is Lead-free, it would be prudent for the company to look into whether or not this is in fact still the case (that they don’t need to have a Prop 65 warning) as, given the findings of Lead in the foam of their sofas, this assertion may no longer be correct (and they may be required to include a Prop 65 warning for Lead with their sofas, if this issue is not resolved.)
2. In their FAQ Prop-65 statement (in the FAQ section of their website – first screenshot below) they also state they hired “an eco materials specialist” to evaluate the materials in their furniture. They may want to reconsider their relationship with this specialist (inquire into that person’s qualifications and determine how that specialist managed to overlook the presence of Lead in the foam used in their sofas.)
3. The owners of Medley Home should contact CertiPUR-US® directly about these findings as well as the manufacturer of their foam. Medley Home likely trusted the manufacturer of the foam product they use based on this certification and related marketing materials (and testing reports?) provided to them. While it could be argued that some degree of fault in this situation falls on Medley Home, I would anticipate that both CertiPUR-US® (the company that certified the foam as non-toxic and free of heavy metals) and the manufacturer of the foam each have greater fault in this situation — as they either did not accurately represent this foam product that they sold to Medley Home, or did not do sufficient testing to guarantee this product was as stated (Lead-free / heavy metals-free.)
4. The owners of Medley Home should immediately (& until this issue is resolved) remove the Lead-free / heavy metals-free language from their website to prevent future potential concerns over false-advertisement (now that they have this information, which has been e-mailed to them concurrent with publishing this post on the Lead Safe Mama website.)
5. I recommend that the owners of Medley Home send e-mails out to all customers who have purchased their CertiPUR-US® certified foam-containing products to date and let them know of the concern, and that they are acting immediately to further investigate / quantify any potential risk to customers.
6. The owners of Medley Home should consider offering refunds to customers who request them – specifically for customers who purchased their foam-containing products that were advertised as free of heavy metals. [A little good will in a situation like this goes a long way!]
7. The owners of Medley Home need to find a new source for the foam for their cushions, one that can be confirmed by an independent third party to be Lead-free [I would be happy to help them with evaluating samples should they contact me, or they may want to send samples of foam they are considering using to a lab for independent testing].
8. In the meantime (prior to finding a Lead-free source for their foam), the owners of Medley Home may want to also offer free (or deeply discounted) replacement cushions from their latex line (which is presumably Lead-free) to replace any cushions that may have Lead (or offer free replacements with Lead-free foam cushions as soon as they locate a suitable source of [confirmed] Lead-free foam for these cushions.)

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continue reading below the image
Note: prop 65 FAQ section

Section #4) Recommended interim measures for families who purchased these products

If you purchased one of these sofas or other Medley Home products that contained CertiPUR-US® certified foam you might want to consider the following immediate actions:

• Communicate with the company directly if these findings are concerning for you and your family (having a sense of how many customers are concerned about this issue will likely help expedite any actions they take to remedy the situation.)
• Request a remedy (per the suggestions in section #3 above – including refund or replacemement product).
• In the meantime (while you are waiting to hear back from the company) consider draping your sofa seat cushions with another layer of fabric (an organic cotton or wool throw for example?) putting an additional layer of fabric barrier between yourself and the cushions until the potential concern for the Lead in the foam of these cushions can be further quantified. [Ideally this should be something thick enough to act as an additional barrier but easy to wash, so you can change it out every couple of days until we have a better sense of potential dusting concerns of these sofas. Perhaps you have some patchwork quilts that fit the bill and would look lovely draped over your sofa?]

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Section #5) Next steps

• I have emailed CertiPUR-US® to alert them of this concern and will publish any response I receive.
• I have emailed Medley Home to alert them of this concern and will let Lead Safe Mama readers know how they respond. I also offered to meet with them next month (in Los Angeles) if they would like to discuss this with me personally (or if they would like to have me do some pre-screening on samples of potential replacement foam for their sofas.)
• The two families I have been working with (whose couch foam I tested and reported on above) are each going to be doing dust-wipe sample Lead tests of their couch foam, and of the floor underneath their couch. The goal with this testing is to try to quantify any potential concerns for Lead DUST hazards created by the foam (i.e. does the Lead-contaminated foam generate Lead-contaminated micro-dust in or around the couch, and is any dust contaminated with Lead to a level that might be considered harmful to children?). Without more testing along these lines we cannot determine the potential risk (if any) for the user.

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Section #6) Full XRF test results for the foam samples tested

Sample #1) – Couch from Tennessee family
60-second test, repeated multiple time to confirm results
Sofa pictured above

• Lead (Pb): 290 +/- 22 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Arsenic (As): 26 +/- 16 ppm
• Barium (Ba): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): 240 +/- 78 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): non-detect
• Selenium (Se): non-detect

Sample #2) – Couch from Florida family
60-second test

• Lead (Pb): 195 +/- 5 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): 95 +/- 20 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 214 +/- 12 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 8 +/- 5 ppm
• Zinc (Zn): 7 +/- 2 ppm
• Arsenic (As): 13 +/- 4 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 187 +/- 8 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 152 +/- 41 ppm
• Gold (Au): 4 +/- 3 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): non-detect
• Selenium (Se): non-detect
• No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.

Sample #3) – Couch from Florida family
60-second test

• Lead (Pb): 187 +/- 5 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): 92 +/- 21 pp
• Iron (Fe): 39 +/- 9 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 8 +/- 5 ppm
• Arsenic (As): 12 +/- 4 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 167 +/- 8 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 130 +/- 44 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): non-detect
• Selenium (Se): non-detect
• No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.

Sample #4) – Couch from Florida family
60-second test

• Lead (Pb): 232 +/- 5 ppm
• Cadmium (Cd): non-detect
• Mercury (Hg): non-detect
• Bromine (Br): non-detect
• Chromium (Cr): 112 +/- 21 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 45 +/- 8 ppm
• Arsenic (As): 10 +/- 4 ppm
• Tin (Sn): 191 +/- 7 ppm
• Barium (Ba): 140 +/- 41 ppm
• Antimony (Sb): non-detect
• Selenium (Se): non-detect
• No other metals detected in consumer goods mode.

All test results reported here on TamaraRubin.com / LeadSafeMama.com are accurate, science-based and replicable. Test results reported here are for testing done multiple times (on each component) to confirm the results of the item tested.

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Section #7) “Is this unusual?” & “Do sofas normally have Lead?”

In response to my publishing of this post, many Lead Safe Mama readers asked one or both of the questions above, so I wanted to update this post with my responses to those questions:

• It is VERY unusual for modern sofa foam / sofa cushions to test positive for any amount of Lead or Arsenic, which makes this particularly remarkable — that a sofa-brand being specifically marketed on the basis of being “non-toxic“, and “Lead-free” is positive for metals not normally found in modern fabric sofas!
• Vintage (20 years or older) sofas can test positive for Lead — in leather, and vinyl, polyester, or other synthetic (plastics-based) fabrics. I have tested vintage leather sofas where the leather has been positive for 3,000 ppm Lead or more. I have tested vintage fabric couches where the synthetic fabric covering has been positive for anything from 10 ppm Lead to 1,000 ppm Lead. With vintage vinyl (sofas, mini-blinds, toys, clothes – whatever) I have found Lead levels as high as 20,000 ppm.
• Modern Leather sofas can test positive for Lead in the leather, also. This is less-common, but just last year (summer 2020) I tested a brand-new (and quite expensive) brown leather sofa pillow and it was positive for about 4,000 ppm Lead. [If a modern leather sofa tests positive for Lead, it is normally in the 1,000 to 4,000 ppm range.]
• Modern fabric sofas (like the one discussed in this post) almost NEVER test positive for Lead or Arsenic [but often test positive for Antimony – in the 150 to 350 ppm range – because Antimony in that range is found in the polyfill in most modern sofas (and also sometimes in synthetic fabric coverings).]

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Here are some links to other posts here on LeadSafeMama.com that might be of interest to you:

• A post discussing the testing methodology used for test results reported here on LeadSafeMama.com
• More posts about furniture and decor items we have tested.
• More posts with “Made In USA” products.

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Thank you for being here.

Thank you for reading and sharing about this work — independent consumer goods testing directed and supported by the readers and social media followers of all accounts related to Lead Safe Mama, LLC (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook – and direct readership here on the website!)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments on this post. I will do my best to answer them as soon as I have a moment [however, it may take a while, given I often have my hands full with children (since the start of the pandemic especially), so please be patient.]

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Owner – Lead Safe Mama, LLC
Portland, Oregon – USA

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Below are several additional relevant screenshots from the MedleyHome.com website:

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