[ SEE UPDATE BELOW ] We needed to add beads to a large Fatboy bean-bag/chair. Since we did not want any more chemicals beyond those already needed for manufacturing --and flammability retardance per CAL 117 laws-- I choose this brand since the beads are claimed to be from virgin material (non-virgin materials can have contamination from the large amounts of dirt and residues left on the recycled products), and the price was quite competitive. MATERIAL These are roughly rounded, smooth and white, expanded polystyrene [EPS] beads 8 mm in diameter [ca 0.3"]. The distributor Posh Beanbags (at the time of this writing an abandoned trademark brand name of GT Ventures LLC in Nevada) claims they are made in the U.S. EPS is called "styrofoam" in the U.S. and Canada. SAFETY RISK EVALUATION Unlike some other EPS bead fillers, this EPS product does not provide a Proposition 65 Warning, which lists polystyrene as a carcinogenic. This due not to an actual No Significant Risk Level compliance for the product, but to an egregious failure to provide that warning here. I took away one star because of that. EPS is composed of several ingredients. In addition to the polystyrene foam, it contains pentanes and styrene. The pentanes are highly volatile blowing agents that are released as flammable gases. Industry descriptions typically claim 85% of them is emitted within the first two days of manufacture and the remainder emitted before shipping. The monomer styrene (in the form of residual vinylbenzene) is a volatile used as a precursor to polystyrene, and is reported to represent less than 2‰ (per mille and not percent) of the finished EPS product. This monomer is a cause of concern -- the DHHS National Toxicology Program concluded (14th Report, 2016) that styrene is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," and a working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer later upgraded its warning "from possibly carcinogenic" to "probably carcinogenic." Aware of such issues, upon delivery I opened as much as possible the beads-filled plastic bag inside the box, closed the box flaps again, and put the box outdoors on a spot with direct sunlight for two hot (82+ °F) days to help release the toxic volatile chemicals it might have contained. I cannot exclude some contaminants might have remained, but if so it is unlikely they would be volatile. Further, given that: [ i ] the CDC reports styrene, if not inhaled, may only enter the body when ingested or touched as a liquid; [ ii ] EPS workers need to be exposed to ca. 1000 times the levels typically found in the environment before minor adverse effects may occur; and [ iii ] the above 2‰ amount limit is less than the maximum amount of styrene allowed in products used for food contact, I concluded it is reasonable to expect EPS *pre-ventilated* in this manner is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk under usual and normal conditions inside an indoors bean bag, especially a thick one like ours, not exposed to outdoors heat or rain. When having children at home it is needed to childproof the bag's zipper, such as cutting of the handle of the zipper so a child cannot open it. PACKING My beads arrived in a large "packing" plastic bag inside a flimsy cardboard shipping box. The box could have not been sealed with tape in a worse manner, as a large fold of the plastic bag had been left out the box flaps and taped to them. Considerable time and patience were required to remove the tape from the bag without ripping it and making a hole from which EPS could escape. To facilitate the transfer of the beads into the bean bag I taped a cardboard tube of about 5" in diameter to the opening of the plastic bag containing the beads (see my figure). ____ UPDATE (January 2022) Both the title and the images at the top of this page indicate that the manufacturer has improved the packing of the beads using a bag with a zipper, which should facilitate refilling a beanbag. Keep in mind, however, that the beads shown in such images are not the original rounds ones (shown, for example, in the promotional video accompaning the images) but are more cylindrical, making unclear if other manufacturing changes, if any, have also occurred. Curiously, Amazon sells this same new 100-liter bag of Posh beads of this webpage (item model AMZ-EPS-100L) for a lesser price than the apparently identical 100-liter bag of Posh beads in other page (item model AMZ-EPS-100LFILL). One can only hope such a price difference is not related to the respective quality of their material, like a mix of new and recycled EPS versus new EPS. Also notice that a number of counties in the US have passed laws restricting the use of rigid EPS food service products, and sales of EPS loose-fill packaging. Additionally, polystyrene, despite its designation by the plastic recycling code 6 in the middle of triangle, is not recycled at all in some communities. Even when recycled by a community, EPS like these beads may not be accepted as they are an end product and the *expanded* resin cannot be un-expanded for reuse. _
