At a glance
| Chemical family | A volatile organic compound — a small, reactive diene gas; an industrial feedstock for synthetic rubber |
| CAS number | 106-99-0 |
| Classification | IARC Group 1 — carcinogenic to humans (leukemia). U.S. NTP: known to be a human carcinogen. EPA: carcinogenic to humans |
| Where you encounter it | Combustion: tobacco smoke, wood-fire and fireplace smoke, vehicle exhaust (especially from an attached garage), waste incineration; industrially, synthetic-rubber manufacture |
| Sleep micro-environment relevance | Not a mattress emission. A combustion gas that enters bedroom air from indoor smoking, wood burning, or infiltrating exhaust — and breaks down in air within hours once the source stops |
| Activated carbon capture | Source elimination is the real control; ventilation removes it quickly because it is short-lived in air |
Regulatory & certification status
Where 1,3-Butadiene stands across the major regulatory systems and the certifications a bedroom product might carry. Each row links to the governing instrument; where a jurisdiction has no specific measure, that is stated plainly rather than left blank.
| European Union | Harmonised CLP classification (CLP Regulation Annex VI, Index No. 601-013-00-X): carcinogen category 1A (H350), germ-cell mutagen category 1B (H340) and flammable gas. On that basis it falls under the REACH Annex XVII restriction on CMR substances (Entry 28, carcinogens category 1A/1B), and is named in Appendix 1 to that entry, which bars its placing on the market for supply to the general public. It is NOT, however, on the REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern, nor on the Authorisation List (Annex XIV): it is regulated via harmonised CLP plus the generic Annex XVII CMR restriction, not the authorisation route. Regulatory — REACH Annex XVII, Appendix · ECHA |
| United States | California Proposition 65: listed as a carcinogen (effective 1 April 1988) and for developmental toxicity and male and female reproductive toxicity (effective 16 April 2004), via the authoritative-bodies mechanism (NIOSH/US EPA). Federal TSCA: EPA designated it a high-priority substance (December 2019) and released its final risk evaluation in December 2025 (Federal Register notice 5 January 2026). That evaluation determined 1,3-butadiene presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health from certain occupational (worker) conditions of use; EPA found NO unreasonable risk to consumers or to the general population (including people living near facilities). Risk-management rulemaking follows the unreasonable-risk finding. Regulatory — OEHHA · US EPA |
| Canada | Listed on Schedule 1 (List of Toxic Substances) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The Priority Substances List assessment concluded 1,3-butadiene is 'toxic' under section 64 — meeting the criteria of paragraphs 64(b) and 64(c) — finding it highly likely to be carcinogenic (and likely genotoxic) in humans and a danger in Canada to human life or health. This is a final, not draft, listing (its current toxic-substance status is reaffirmed in later CEPA orders). Regulatory — Government of Canada |
| Australia | No specific restriction identified. A dedicated AICIS evaluation/assessment statement or an IChEMS Register schedule listing for 1,3-butadiene (CAS 106-99-0) could not be confirmed against a primary source (note: the related but distinct substance hexachlorobuta-1,3-diene is separately IChEMS-scheduled and must not be conflated). Regulatory — AICIS · DCCEEW |
| United Kingdom | GB CLP: retains the EU harmonised classification as a category 1A carcinogen and category 1B mutagen on the GB Mandatory Classification and Labelling (GB MCL) list. Under UK REACH, a CMR category 1A/1B substance such as this cannot be supplied to the general public under the retained Annex XVII CMR restriction. Regulatory — HSE |
| International | IARC classifies 1,3-butadiene as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans for cancer of the haematolymphatic system (leukaemia). Evaluated in Monographs Volume 97 (2008) and the Group 1 classification reaffirmed in Volume 100F (2012). No Stockholm Convention (POPs) or Minamata Convention applicability. Regulatory — IARC · IARC Monographs Vol. 100F |
| Certifications | CertiPUR-US: its published criteria screen certified foam against substances classified under GHS as carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxicants, and require a total-VOC emissions test (less than 0.5 ppm) measured after 72-hour conditioning in an ISO-standardised chamber — so a CMR-classified volatile would be addressed at the emissions level, though 1,3-butadiene is not named in the criteria as a separate target analyte. GREENGUARD/GREENGUARD Gold is a low-VOC emissions certification that would in principle capture any off-gassing VOC, but 1,3-butadiene is not confirmed as a separately named target analyte. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is a textile residual-content certification and does not specifically address 1,3-butadiene, a volatile gaseous monomer. Industry — CertiPUR-US |
| The 72-hour test window | Readily detected. 1,3-Butadiene is a highly volatile gas (boiling point about -4 degrees C) and a textbook VOC, so a short ~72-hour chamber emissions test is well suited to capture it where it is off-gassing as a residual monomer; it is not a dust-migrating SVOC. Inferred — from the compound's volatility/emission profile versus the VOC focus of short chamber tests |
What it is
1,3-Butadiene is a small, colorless gas with a faint gasoline-like odor, made from petroleum and used mostly to manufacture synthetic rubber for tires, along with some plastics and resins. Regulatory — U.S. National Cancer Institute That industrial identity is not, however, why it matters in a bedroom.
What matters is its cancer classification, and it is unambiguous. The International Agency for Research on Cancer places 1,3-butadiene in Group 1 — carcinogenic to humans — on the basis of sufficient evidence that it causes leukemia. Regulatory — IARC Monographs Vol. 100F The U.S. National Toxicology Program lists it as known to be a human carcinogen, and the EPA agrees; the strongest human evidence comes from studies of rubber-industry workers, who show excess leukemia and related blood-cancer mortality. Regulatory — ATSDR; NCI
How it relates to the bedroom
A chemical of smoke, not of the mattress
This is the key reframing. For the general population, the dominant exposures to 1,3-butadiene are combustion sources, and indoor microenvironments are where they concentrate. The ATSDR lists the everyday routes plainly: car and truck exhaust, waste incineration, wood fires, and cigarette smoke. Regulatory — ATSDR Of these, environmental tobacco smoke is the single largest contributor for most non-occupationally-exposed people. Inferred — from ATSDR's ranking of indoor combustion sources A mattress does not emit it in any meaningful quantity; a cigarette, a smoky wood stove, or an idling car in an attached garage does.
The firefighter's molecule
There is a reason this compound is familiar to the fire service. When wood, plastics and rubber burn, 1,3-butadiene is released into the smoke, and it is one of the carcinogens that contributes to the elevated cancer risk documented in firefighters. Regulatory — ATSDR (wood-fire and combustion sources) For a household the same chemistry scales down but does not disappear: any indoor combustion — a fireplace that back-drafts, burning candles and incense to a lesser degree, tobacco — puts a measure of this known carcinogen into the air of the room. The firefighter's hard-won lesson, that smoke is chemistry, applies directly to the bedroom. Inferred — generalising the combustion-source link to household smoke
Short-lived, which is the good news
Unlike a flame retardant that lingers in dust for years, 1,3-butadiene is reactive and short-lived: roughly half of what enters indoor air is gone within about six hours. Regulatory — ATSDR That is genuinely encouraging, because it means the exposure tracks the source almost in real time. Remove the smoking, vent the wood smoke, stop the exhaust infiltration, and the level falls quickly. There is no residual reservoir to chase. Inferred — from its short atmospheric half-life
What the research says
- It is a Group 1 human carcinogen. Sufficient evidence for leukemia; NTP and EPA concur. Regulatory — IARC Vol. 100F
- Its indoor sources are combustion. Tobacco smoke, wood fires, vehicle exhaust, incineration — not material off-gassing. Regulatory — ATSDR
- Tobacco smoke is the leading household contributor. Inferred — ATSDR source ranking
- It is short-lived in air. About a six-hour half-life indoors, so removing the source removes the exposure. Regulatory — ATSDR
What helps reduce it
No indoor smoking. The single most effective step: do not smoke inside the home or car. Regulatory — ATSDR; NCI
Vent combustion properly. Ensure wood stoves and fireplaces draft correctly and minimize smoke released into living space. Regulatory — ATSDR
Stop exhaust infiltration. Never idle a vehicle in an attached garage, and reduce time spent right beside heavy traffic where feasible. Regulatory — ATSDR
Ventilate. Because the gas is short-lived, fresh-air exchange clears it quickly once the source is gone. Inferred — from its short half-life
What does NOT help
- Worrying about the mattress. 1,3-Butadiene is not a meaningful mattress emission; focusing there misses the actual combustion sources. Regulatory — ATSDR
- Masking smoke with fragrance. Covering a smoke smell does nothing about the carcinogen and adds reactive VOCs of its own. Inferred
Open research questions
- Typical bedroom 1,3-butadiene concentrations in homes with and without indoor smoking or wood burning, and the contribution of attached-garage exhaust. Speculation
- The incremental leukemia risk, if any, from chronic low-level residential combustion exposure relative to the occupational evidence base. Speculation
The Embr Exposure Ledger: 1,3-Butadiene
One chemical, several public questions, answered from independent datasets and joined here — the environment it shows up in, the body burden it carries, how it is regulated, and what actually reduces it.
Detection and body-burden figures are occurrence data, not a personal measurement or a health diagnosis. Part of the Embr Exposure Ledger — an open, cross-dataset chemical join (download the data), reusable with attribution.
Citations
- IARC (2012). 1,3-Butadiene. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, Volume 100F (building on Volume 97, 2008) — Group 1, carcinogenic to humans; sufficient evidence for leukemia. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Regulatory
- U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). ToxFAQs / Toxicological Profile for 1,3-Butadiene — combustion gas; home exposure via vehicle exhaust, wood fires and cigarette smoke; human carcinogen; ~6-hour atmospheric half-life; family risk-reduction measures. wwwn.cdc.gov Regulatory
- U.S. National Cancer Institute (NIH). Cancer-Causing Substances: 1,3-Butadiene — IARC and NTP human carcinogen; leukemia association; reduce exposure by avoiding tobacco smoke. cancer.gov Regulatory
Frequently asked questions
Does 1,3-butadiene come from my mattress?
Not in any meaningful way. 1,3-Butadiene is used industrially to make synthetic rubber, but the bedroom exposure that matters is not material off-gassing — it is combustion. The compound reaches indoor air through tobacco smoke, wood-fire smoke, and vehicle exhaust that infiltrates from an attached garage or busy road. So the fix is about sources of smoke and exhaust, not about the mattress itself.
Is 1,3-butadiene a carcinogen?
Yes — it is one of the more serious entries in this Atlas. The IARC classifies 1,3-butadiene as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans, based on sufficient evidence that it causes leukemia, and the U.S. National Toxicology Program and EPA reach the same conclusion. The strongest evidence comes from workers, but the same gas is present in the everyday combustion sources found in and around homes.
Why do firefighters care about 1,3-butadiene?
Because it is a product of combustion. When wood, plastics and rubber burn, 1,3-butadiene is released into the smoke, which is one reason firefighters carry an elevated cancer burden. For a homeowner the relevance is gentler but real: the same chemistry means a smoky wood stove, indoor smoking, or exhaust drifting in from a garage all add a known carcinogen to the air you sleep in.
How do I reduce 1,3-butadiene in the bedroom?
Eliminate the combustion sources. Do not smoke indoors or in the car; vent wood stoves and fireplaces properly and minimize smoke released into the home; never idle a vehicle in an attached garage; and reduce time spent right next to heavy traffic where you can. Because 1,3-butadiene breaks down in air within hours, removing the source largely removes the exposure.
Related compounds
Embr is a sleep environment company researching and addressing the chemistry of the bedroom. Research and product development in progress.
Last reviewed 2026-06-27. If you find a factual error, contact us.