The most common one detected was a chemical referred to as tris, which was removed for safety reasons from kids' pajamas in the 1970s.
Five samples contained PentaPBDE - another type of flame retardant - that has been banned by nine states and the European Union because of concerns about not only its toxicity, but also its effects on the environment.
These and similar flame retardants are now widespread in nature. They've been found in California peregrine falcons, Puget Sound orca whales, and Greenland sled dogs.
But back to the babies.
One reason flame retardants are in children's products is California. The state has flammability standards requiring that upholstered products - including baby furniture - containing polyurethane foam be able to withstand exposure to a small, open flame for 12 seconds.
Rather than make separate products for just one state, some manufacturers add flame retardants to all.
But how many products? And how much of the stuff is in them?
It's not clear whether they work as intended. One of the study authors, Arlene Blum, a visiting chemistry scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, says the fabric covering the foam is not required to be flame resistant. She plans to present a study at a fire science meeting in June showing that the flame retardants don't make these products safer to any measurable degree.
Scientists have recently begun to take a much closer look at these chemicals in children's products, particularly because they aren't chemically bound to the product. They tend to "offgas" into the air, so children might breathe them. Or they get in dust that children get on their hands.
And we all know where their little hands go next: into their mouths.
Plus, tiny children are more susceptible to concentrations that adults might easily withstand.
