Safer Substitutes for Flame Retardants
Flame- retardant chemicals have long been incorporated into different products like furniture, carpets, electronics, appliances, and building products to meet state and federal flammability requirements designed to decrease ignitability and inhibit combustion. Unfortunately, monitoring and testing studies found that certain flame- retardant chemicals exhibit undesirable characteristics such as being persistent in the environment, bioaccumulating in people and animals, and causing adverse developmental effects in animals.
Under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), the EPA has undertaken different regulatory actions regarding flame retardants, beginning with the 2004 voluntary manufacturer’s phase out of pentaDBE and octa-DBE, chemicals that have been found in fish and samples of women’s breast milk and are suspected to cause liver, thyroid, and neurodevelopmental toxicity. The EPA also issued a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) that has effectively prohibited the manufacturing of the chemical in the United States. More recently, in 2013, the EPA outlined a strategy for assessing 20 flame- retardant chemicals and is working with stakeholders through its Design for the Environment (DfE) program to identify safer alternatives.
On June 12, the EPA released the report, “Flame Retardant Alternatives for Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)” a chemical that has been found to present a number of undesirable characteristics, including:
- Persistent in the environment;
- Bioaccumulative in living organisms;
- Highly toxic to aquatic organisms;
- Biomagnifies in the food chain;
- Found to be present in human breast milk, adipose tissue, and blood; and
- Possible human reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects.
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According to the EPA, more than 95 percent of HBCD is used as a flame retardant in expanded and extruded and polystyrene foam, which is commonly used as rigid foam insulation in the building construction industry, with the remainder being used in textiles and high-impact polystyrene. Due to its primary use in insulation, any alternative chemicals also had to allow the material to conform to fire safety codes without compromising the performance of the foam.
As a result, the report found three viable alternative chemicals to replace HBCD in expanded and extruded and polystyrene foam:
- Butadiene styrene brominated copolymer (currently in commercial production in the United States),
- TBBPA-bis brominated ether derivative, and
- TBBPA bis (2,3-dibromopropyl) ether.
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On the same day, the EPA also released a draft update to the 2005 Alternatives Assessment for pentaBDE, which was prepared with the Furniture Flame Retardancy Partnership (FFRP), a group that includes chemical manufacturers, furniture manufacturers, governmental representatives, and environmental nongovernmental organizations. The new report addresses both old and new alternatives to pentaBDE that meet fire and safety requirements for upholstered consumer products containing flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF).
Specifically, the report updates hazard and use information for 16 flame- retardant chemicals, one non-proprietary mixture and two proprietary mixtures and was expanded to include all upholstered consumer products containing FPUF, including chemicals that have been identified in products such as child car seats and nursing pillows. The EPA notes that although certain FPUF products, such as for babies and children, are exempt from flame retardancy requirements, they may still contain flame- retardant foam.
The 840-page report is designed to assist industry with making decisions regarding which safer alternatives to use in their products and is available from the EPA at http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/flameret/about.htm.