A call for rapid phase-out of Brominated and Chlorinated Flame retardants

WECF position paper on flame retardants

26.04.2011

Flame retardants are a hot topic This is not only because we are dealing with fire and flammability, but because the most commonly used flame retardants which are made of bromine and chlorine compounds (so-called halogenated flame retardants), are nowadays recognized as highly hazardous substances.

Read the position paper here

Health and environment concerns originally emerged when it was realized that the chemical structure of brominated flame retardants was similar to that of PCBs, dioxins or furans, all long known to be extremely hazardous pollutants.

Flame retardants are used in many categories of consumer products, ranging from electronics to upholstered furniture, buildings, wood, textiles, cables, transport and even toys. The inflammability of consumer products was first seen as a major progress for better consumer protection and is still presented as very positive by the flame retardants industry. Today, inflammability has become one of the main criteria for product safety.

WECF supports a rapid phase-out of all BFRs and CFRs from consumer products. WECF also supports the San Antonio Statement on Brominated Flame Retardants of November 2010.