Car seats can contain hazardous chemicals that could be harmful to your child's health

TULSA - We strap children into car seats to keep them safe on the road, but a new report finds that some contain hazardous chemicals that may be harmful to their health.

More than half of the 2011 models of children's car seats contain one or more hazardous chemicals, according to a new report, but they fared far better than in previous years.

Healthystuff.Org, a project of the environmental non-profit the ecology center, found "chemicals of concern" in 60 percent of the more than 150 seats tested, including brominated flame retardants, arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals.

They then ranked the best and worst seats based on how many hazardous chemicals they contained.

Even so, they found that overall, things have gotten better, in terms of toxicity levels since 2008, when the group first started its research, there's been a 64% improvement in car seat rankings.

Healthystuff.org picked the chemicals of concern based on studies showing links to reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities, hormone imbalances and cancer.

The group did not test to see whether any of the chemicals were coming out of the product and potentially exposing children.

The findings also have no bearing on how well these seats perform in a car accident.

CNN contacted the car seat manufacturers mentioned in the report and none responded to requests for comment.