Four child car seats contain dangerous materials: Dutch travelers' assoc.

Dutch travelers' association ANWB found four car seats that it considers unsafe in its annual test of car seats on the Dutch market. These four car seats failed the test because of a high concentration of harmful substances found in the upholstery of the seats, the ANWB said on Tuesday.

The covers of the "Uppababy Mesa i-Size" and "Uppababy Mesa i-Size + i-Size Base" contain too high concentrations of flame retardant TCPP, according to the limit set for toys. TCPP is classified as a carcinogen. And the covers of "Hauck iPro Baby" and "Hauck iPro Baby + iPro Base" contained too high concentrations of Naphthalene, which is also believed to be carcinogenic, the ANWB said.

This year the ANWB tested 20 car seats for safety, operation, ergonomics, and the presence of harmful substances. Eleven of the tested seats scored a "good" with four stars, and five scored "sufficient" with three stars. The above mentioned four scored only one star and the "poor" rating. 

The ANWB has been testing car seats every year since 2003. According to the association, the “BeSafe iZi Kid X3 i-Size” is currently the best car seat available on the Dutch market. It "offers very good protection in both the frontal and side impact", and scores best of all car seats tested since 2015 in the "safety" section, the association said.

"Our test shows once again that, in the store or on the internet, it is not clear how safe a car seat is", the ANWB said suggesting users consult its website before purchasing a car seat.