What does the chemical industry say about flame retardants?

Testing by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Northbrook-based Underwriters Laboratories has found that flame retardants provide no meaningful protection from small open flames — the type used in tests that industry relied on to meet the old California flammability standard.

Are flame retardants still used?

Even as some flame retardants have been phased out of the market, they remain in the environment, people and animals. While three of the more than 200 types of PBDE chemicals – a type of flame retardant – have been voluntarily phased out or banned by the EPA since 2003.

Are flame retardants banned?

In less than a decade, Safer States and its partners have almost entirely eliminated the use of toxic flame retardants in furniture and baby products.

What companies make fire retardant?

Fire & Flame Resistant & Retardant Chemicals Suppliers

• Catalog. Palmer Holland, Inc.
• Economy Polymers & Chemicals.
• Rose Mill Co.
• Reagents.
• TRInternational, Inc.

How did the tobacco industry get firefighters to believe that furniture not cigarettes were to blame for fires?

It all began with the cigarette, the leading cause of fires in the United States. Against pressure to create cigarettes that safely extinguish on upholstery, the tobacco industry redirected the blame onto furniture manufacturers, claiming that they have a responsibility to make furniture less susceptible to fire.

Why do we need flame retardant?

Flame retardants are chemicals that are applied to materials to prevent the start or slow the growth of fire. They have been used in many consumer and industrial products since the 1970s, to decrease the ability of materials to ignite. Flame retardants are often added or applied to the following products.

Is PBDE banned in UK?

Production of PBDEs ceased in the UK in 1996.

What happens if you inhale fire retardant?

Inhalation of monoammonium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate can cause mild irritation to the nose, throat, and lungs and results in symptoms like shortness of breath and coughing. Dizziness and headache are also possible. These symptoms usually resolve quickly with fresh air.

Do flame retardants save lives?

Flame retardants slow the rate at which a fire propagates allowing more time for people to escape and for emergency services to act. Fire retardants save lives.

How long does fire retardant last?

For example, fabrics that have been treated with flame retardants are usually certified for one year. If you wash them in your washing machine like any other article of clothing, the chemicals dissipate over time.

Is the fire retardant dropped from planes toxic?

The fire retardant is generally safe — the Forest Service has said its risk of chemical toxicity is minor for most animals, and it predicted no risk for people who are accidentally splashed — but the sheer volume that comes out of a plane is very heavy. The fire retardant is gooey — sticky, even, Turner said.

Which industry used the flammability of furniture as a scapegoat?

tobacco industry
He shaped its requests for federal rules requiring flame retardant furniture and fed the marshals tobacco’s arguments for why altering furniture was a more effective way to prevent fires than altering cigarettes. For years, the tobacco industry paid Sparber for what the marshals mistakenly thought was volunteer work.