Low Tox Stroller Review
** UPDATED 7/2022
Which is the best stroller? Well, that depends on what you are looking for: do you need a single or double, do you want one for running, do you travel a lot, is weight and ease of closing important or do you never use a car? The perfect stroller might be different for everyone… but for a toxin exposure perspective the things you want to look out for are:
Flame retardant chemicals: most strollers today are free from flame retardant chemicals.. but not all (and flame retardant chemicals are required by law in the UK, so UK purchased strollers will likely contain them)
PFAS chemicals: Used for water and stain resistance, many don’t contain PFAS chemicals anymore- however some very well known brands still do. Thanks to California’s recent law these will not be allowed anymore after 07/2023 however until then you still have to be on the lookout and ask
No added formalehyde: Formaldehyde is sometimes added to fabric to make it wrinkle resistant. This is being used less today than before but good to ask and make sure it is not in your stroller
PVC: my particular concern are PVC rain shields as they encapsulate your baby in a literal pvc bubble which will expose them to plasticizers, even if it says it is pvc free phthalates, and other toxins even lead.
Here are some top picks… this is not an exhaustive list but a start I hope to be able to add to this list with time!
please note:
Just because one model from one brand is listed here does not mean that all of the strollers the brand makes are “low tox” … always ask
Flame retardant chemicals are required by law in the UK and so most UK purchased strollers will contain them
Independent certifications are becoming more common in some strollers which I think is a great sign of the times. This is especially useful as we dont have independent labs verifying that indeed these strollers are free from these chemicals (this review is based on conversations with Customer service and company reps.) Look for Oeko Tex certified and GOTS certified accessories/ fabric
PLEASE NOTE: FURTHER INVESTIGATING HAS shown that some strollers pictured here are actually not 100% PFAS free as customer service told be on a couple of occasions… read below for updates
BUMBLERIDE era city stroller
PFAS free
Flame Retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
PVC free
OEKO-TEX Certified (please note new 2023 models are no longer Oeko Tex certified)
also:
cork handlebar instead of plastic.
Free of polyurethane foam
Fabric: PFAS-free, using a plant-based oil for water repellency instead
Bluesign® certified (please note 2023 models are no longer bluesign certified)
Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) certified (please note 2023 models are no longer bluesign certified)
Bumbleride offers an organic cotton seat stroller liner (which I LOVE!), an organic cotton infant insert for their strollers, a PVC-free rain cover, and a stroller board for older children.
BUMBLERIDE Indie stroller
PFAS free
Flame Retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
PVC free
OEKO-TEX Certified
also:
Free of polyurethane foam (Padding from untreated, OEKO-TEX certified polyester fill.)
Fabric: PFAS-free, using a plant-based oil for water repellency instead
BUMBLERIDE Speed stroller (jogging)
PFAS free
Flame Retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
PVC free
OEKO-TEX Certified
Polyurethane foam free (Padding from untreated, OEKO-TEX certified polyester fill)
Fabric: fabric made from 100% recycled PET* & OEKO-TEX certified
Rain cover is PVC free (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BKWFXKH/)
Greentom (only in Europe)
PFAS free
Flame retardant free
Pvc free
No added formaldehyde
Oeko Tex Certified
Fabric: OEKO-Tex certified recycled PET
PFAS free
Flame Retardant Chemical free
No Added Formaldehyde,
OEKO-TEX Standard 100,
UPPA BABY Vista 2 strollers in NOA fabric
PFAS free (no water repellants at all)
Flame retardant chemical free
No added formaldehyde
(please note other models and car seats could contain C6 based (PFAS) water repellants.)
NUNA STROLLERS: All models. I like: Nuna TAVO, Nuna MIXX NEXT and Nuna Demi Grow (double ) and Nuna TRVL
PFAS free
Flame retardant free
No added formaldehyde
Pvc free
Fabric: proprietary polyester blend.
PFAS FREE
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde
Fits in airplane overhead bin when folded
Easy one hand close and open mechanism
Zoe stroller (all strollers they have double, triple and single umbrella strollers )
PFAS free
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
Free of polyurethane foam
Fabric: made of high quality D600 nylon. Naturally flame retardant
Chicco (all strollers: Bravo Air Quick-Fold Stroller - Q Collection , Chicco Viaro Quick-Fold Stroller, Chicco Activ3 Jogging Travel System, Chicco Liteway Stroller
PFAS free
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
Guava Family Roam Stroller (jogger)
PFAS free
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde
PVC free
QUESTIONABLE:
MOCKINGBIRD
PFAS free
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
Fabric is water resistant and made of neoprene, which is a synthetic rubber. Neoprene is a closed-cell foam, which means that water cannot be absorbed through it.
This would have made it into the good options list, but then they disclosed “ There are thousands of known PFAs, so what I can say with certainty is that our products contain no known PFAs (especially those known to be harmful!). However, what we don't want to provide you with is an overarching general statement without having the testing information available to you because we want you to have the best information on hand to make an educated decision” I appreciate this disclaimer because it is true we actually do not have a way to test for all PFAS in existence however I Would like to think that a company can verify their sourcing and confirm their fabrics at least do not contain any added DWR…
Strollers I would not choose
Bugaboo Fox 2 and Donkey 3 (double)
originally These were in my approved list, but my friends at Sprout spoke to the company ( even though I had too!) and found out that indeed they are still using PFAS in their fabrics ( except their 2022 butterfly stroller which is pfas free) thus i do not recommend
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
Oeko Tex certified
Fabric: OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified polyester made from recycled PET bottles
originally this was in my approved list, but a source was able to to contact corporate Reps and it seems that what I was told by customer service is wrong…. and they only test for two PFAS.
not all PFAS free: One customer service representative confirmed PFAS free, but a subsequent corporate representative has confirmed they actually only test for 2 PFAS: PFOA and PFOS.
Flame retardant free
No Added Formaldehyde,
BRITAX B LIVELY/ BRITAX B FREE PREMIUM STROLLER
Reason: description says it is “ Available with High-Performance Fabrics”
I reached out 4 times to their customer service to ask: what makes these high performance? And what are the not high performance fabrics made of? Specifically: are they treated with fluorine (PFAS_ C6, C8 or other DWR) in order to make them water/stain resistant.
Their response : “the only information we will have access to is the same information that is listed under the LEARN tab on our Britax website under innovation. WE unfortunately do not have anyone who has access to the chemical breakdown of the stroller”
Uppa baby Cruz stroller and Uppa baby Cruz stroller
Reason: They use C6 (a short chained PFAS chemical) based chemistry for water/ stain resistance on their fabrics.
Mountain buggy nano stroller
Reason: The nano fabric is a polyester fabric, which does have a DWR treatment which contains PFAS (polyester often does not have DWR but this is one case where according to customer service it does)
Peg Perego
Reason: they confirmed they use a “scotch guard type product that is applied to stroller fabrics”. These would contain PFAS
flame retardant chemical free (in the US)
But Sprout San Francisco had these strollers tested and it turns out the to use PFAS chemicals