A number of United States federal agencies administer regulations that govern furniture stores. Although some of the regulations overlap across agencies, they are specific when addressing safety of the consumer. The Customs and Border Protection agency regulates the country of origin for most furniture products that are imported. The Consumer Product Safety Commission deals with flammability and lead containing surface coatings of furniture. The Environmental Protection Agency handles issues pertaining to formaldehyde in wood. The Federal Trade Commission is concerned with proper labeling, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture deals with organic fibers.

Extremely Flammable Contact Adhesives

Contact adhesives are typically available to the general public and are used in the manufacture or repair of furniture products. They find use primarily for bonding plastic laminates to table and counter, some types of flooring tiles and for applying tile board to walls. Pieces of furniture that incorporate combinations of wood, metal, tiles, leather, linoleum, rubber or plastics also make use of these adhesives for bonding the materials. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has placed a ban on the use of extremely flammable contact adhesives.

Lead in Paint and Components

Some of the furniture articles in your inventory might have been coated with paint that contains lead. The CPSC requirement for lead in paint used in furniture and similar surface coatings is that it should be limited to 90 parts per million. For most children's furniture products that contain lead in metal and plastic components, the limit is 100 ppm. It is required that lead paint and lead content be tested and certified by a third party.

Children’s Furniture Items

Your furniture store should adhere to standards set by the CPSC for bunk beds, toddler beds and cribs -- both full-size and non-full-size products. Toddler beds should pass performance tests to assure guardrail structural integrity and have warning labels that address entrapment and strangulation hazards separately. Cribs must comply with specific dimensions regarding interior size, rail height and crib slats. Bunk beds are subject to tracking label, certification and lead content requirements. These standards aim to enforce safety in the use of these furniture products.

Safety for Mattresses

The CPSC sets forth regulations regarding flammability requirements for mattresses, mattress sets and mattress pads. The exposure to a lighted cigarette test is part of the standard to determine the ignition resistance of these products, in which the specimen is allowed to burn freely under controlled conditions. In addition, each product should bear a permanent label with information detailing name and address of manufacturer, month and year of manufacture and model identification. In addition, the letter “T” must be prominently displayed on the label for mattress pads that have been treated with a chemical flame retardant.