The nasfm and the iaff have asked the Federal Trade Commission to force furniture manufacturers and retailers to alert consumers that the polyurethane foam in most upholstered furniture poses the most serious fire hazard found in American homes.

In a petition submitted by the two organizations, the ftc was asked to require furniture makers and retailers to provide its customers with the same warning label that furniture producers receive from polyurethane manufacturers, but that currently is not passed along to consumers.

The representative label in the petition warns, "Polyurethane Foam Can Burn! In case of fire, serious personal injury or death can result from extreme heat, rapid oxygen depletion and the production of toxic gases." The label urges that the warning be shared with the public.

The petition also was submitted to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which the nasfm said is now in its sixth year of deciding whether it will require upholstered furniture to meet flammability standards.

"Explicit warning labels are the very least we can provide for American families until the industry chooses or is forced to spend a few dollars a chair to make its products safer," said Donald P. Bliss, New Hampshire State Fire Marshal and an nasfm spokesman.