Flame Retardants - Green Science Policy Institute What are flame retardants? Flame retardant chemicals are added to products including cars, furniture foam, electronics, children’s products, and building insulation to meet flammability standards Unfortunately, these standards are often poor predictors of real-life fire risks and lead to the unnecessary use of these toxic chemicals Some flame retardants are associated with elevated cancer
Flame Retardants in Furniture - Green Science Policy Institute The new standard provides for better fire safety in furniture and children’s products without the need for flame retardant chemicals In 2015 the Institute and our colleagues petitioned the U S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ban products, including furniture, containing any organohalogen flame retardant
Flame Retardants in Vehicles - Green Science Policy Institute Our Institute's joint research found that flame retardants were present in 101 vehicles tested in the United States The most prevalent flame retardant, TCIPP, was found in 99% of cars and is currently under study by the National Toxicology Program as a carcinogen Other flame retardants detected in the cars are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and or neurotoxins, and are persistent
TB117-2013_manufacturers_021114 - Green Science Policy Institute Flame retardant chemicals TB117-2013 can be met without flame retardant chemicals What are the benefits of meeting TB117-2013 with components free of flame retardant chemicals? • Consumers: Although the new standard can be met without flame retardants, it does NOT ban their use
Flame Retardants in Insulation - Green Science Policy Institute Do they provide a fire safety benefit? Our peer-reviewed paper, Flame retardants in building insulation: a case for re-evaluating building codes, concluded that flame retardants in building insulation do not provide a fire safety benefit for many applications
Some Flame Retardants of Concern - Green Science Policy Institute Flame retardants that harm health often belong to the groups below This list is not exhaustive; new flame retardant chemicals are constantly developed Often a chemical’s identity is concealed as confidential business information, however scientists can sometimes determine its structure through rigorous analysis Halogenated (or organohalogen) flame retardants contain chlorine or bromine
HALOGENATED FLAME JUSTIFY THE RISKS? - Green Science Policy Institute Materials and Methods A comprehensive review of current literature was conducted by a cross-disciplinary group of scientists to determine whether the health and environmental risks of halogenated flame retardants are justified by fire safety benefits The major findings and conclusions of this review were incorporated into the San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame
Flame-retardant additives as possible cancer hazards The ever-increasing scope of govern-regulations leading ment is to a vastly expanded market for chemical flame re-tardants In 1971, a total of approximate-ly 175 million pounds (1 kilogram = 2 2 pounds) of flame-retardant compounds were produced In 1975, the amount had doubled to over 300 million pounds, and it is expected to reach 500 million pounds by 1980 (2) although about two-thirds of
Electronics - Green Science Policy Institute Flame retardant producers have long supported new international requirements for the use of high levels of flame retardants in the outer casings of computers, TVs, and other electronics Our Institute’s efforts led to the rejection of such “candle standard” proposals in 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014, and prevented the unnecessary use of hundreds of millions of pounds of toxic flame
Study: You’re Breathing Potential Carcinogens Inside Your Car Study: You’re Breathing Potential Carcinogens Inside Your Car May 7, 2024 BERKELEY, Calif — The air inside all personal vehicles is polluted with harmful flame retardants—including those known or suspected to cause cancer—according to a new peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science Technology Car manufacturers add these chemicals to seat foam and other materials to