In the 1970s, flame retardants began to be added to synthetic materials to meet strict flammability standards. Over the years, diverse flame retardants have been manufactured and used in various products. Some flame retardants have migrated out of the products, and this has led to widespread human exposure and environmental contamination. There also is mounting evidence that many flame retardants are associated with adverse human health effects. As a result, some flame retardants have been banned, restricted, or voluntarily phased out of production and use. This publication develops a scientifically based scoping plan to assess additive, nonpolymeric organohalogen flame retardants as a class for potential chronic health hazards under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, including cancer, birth defects, and gene mutations.
The third edition of Fire Retardancy of Polymeric Materials provides a single source for all aspects of this highly challenging field of applied research. This authoritative book covers design and non-fire requirements that drive how these materials are fire protected. Detailed study and consideration of chemistry, physics, materials science, economic issues and fire safety science is necessary to address considerations of mechanical, thermal, environmental, and end-use requirements on top of fire protection means that the field requires. This thoroughly revised new edition continues to offer comprehensive coverage of the scientific approach for those developing fire safe materials. It covers new topics such as bio-based materials, regulatory issues, recycling, newer flame retardant chemical classes, and more details on how to flame retard materials for specific market applications. Written by a team of experts, this book covers the fundamentals of polymer burning and combustion and how to apply fire protection or flame-retardant chemistries to specific material classes and applications. The book is written for material scientists and fire safety scientists who seek to develop new fire safe materials or understand why materials burn in our modern environment. Features Connects fundamentals of material flammability to practical fire safety needs Covers current fire safety requirements and regulations affecting flame retardant selection Provides information on chemical structure-property relationships for flame retardancy Provides practical guidance on how to design fire safe materials for specific fire risk scenarios The new edition is expanded to 32 chapters and all chapters are updated and revised with the newest information
Five plastic materials, with and without fire retardants, were studied to compare the fire hazards of non-halogenated fire retardant additives with halogenated flame retardants. The plastic materials were identified by the sponsors as unsaturated polyesters, thermoplastic high density, low density and cross-linked low density polyethylenes, polypropylene, flexible and rigid poly(vinyl chlorides), and cross-linked and thermoplastic ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers. The non-halogenated fire retardants tested were aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3), also known as alumina trihydrate (ATH), sodium aluminocarbonate, and magnesium hydroxide. The halogenated flame retardants were chlorine or bromine/antimony oxides. The plastics were studied using the Cone Calorimeter and the cup furnace smoke toxicity method (high density polyethylene only). The Cone Calorimeter provided data on mass consumed, time to ignition, peak rate and peak time of heat release, total heat released, effective heat of combustion, average yields of CO, CO2, HCl, and HBr, and average smoke obscuration. The concentrations of toxic gases generated in the cup furnace smoke toxicity method were used to predict the toxic potency of the mixed thermal decomposition products. The data from the Cone Calorimeter indicate that the non-halogenated fire retardants were, in most of the tested plastic formulations, more effective than the halogenated flame retardants in increasing the time to ignition. The non-halogenated fire retardants were also more effective in reducing the mass consumed, peak rate of heat release, total heat released, and effective heat of combustion, and in reducing the amount of smoke produced. The use of halogenated flame retardants increased smoke production and CO yields and, additionally, produced the known acid gases and toxic irritants, HCl and HBr, in measurable quantities. The chemical analytical data for the high density polyethylene samples decomposed via the cup furnace smoke toxicity method in the non-flaming mode indicated that the levels of CO and CO2 were insufficient to cause death of the test animals (rats), but deaths did occur with all samples except the one containing the halogenated flame retardant. In the flaming mode deaths occurred during exposure to the combustion products from the non-fire retarded control and from the halogenated sample; only in the latter case were the CO and CO2 concentrations high enough to cause the within exposure deaths. These toxicity results are unusual, but do not indicate a need for concern, since the LC50 values are in the range typical of many common materials.
Five plastic materials, with and without fire retardants, were studied to compare the fire hazards of non-halogenated fire retardant additives with halogenated flame retardants. The plastic materials were identified by the sponsors as unsaturated polyesters, thermoplastic high density, low density and cross-linked low density polyethylenes, polypropylene, flexible and rigid poly(vinyl chlorides), and cross-linked and thermoplastic ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers. The non-halogenated fire retardants tested were aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3), also known as alumina trihydrate (ATH), sodium aluminocarbonate, and magnesium hydroxide. The plastics were studied using the Cone Calorimeter and the cup furnace smoke toxicity method (high density polyethylene only).
Initially marketed as a life-saving advancement, flame retardants are now mired in controversy. Some argue that data show the chemicals are unsafe while others continue to support their use. The tactics of each side have far-reaching consequences for how we interpret new scientific discoveries. An experienced environmental sociologist, Alissa Cordner conducts more than a hundred interviews with activists, scientists, regulators, and industry professionals to isolate the social, scientific, economic, and political forces influencing environmental health policy today. Introducing "strategic science translation," she describes how stakeholders use scientific evidence to support nonscientific goals and construct "conceptual risk formulas" to shape risk assessment and the interpretation of empirical evidence. A revelatory text for public-health advocates, Toxic Safety demonstrates that while all parties interested in health issues use science to support their claims, they do not compete on a level playing field and even good intentions can have deleterious effects.
Emerging Freshwater Pollutants: Analysis, Fate and Regulations comprises of 20 chapters, all written by leading experts. This book is written in the most practical terms and is easy to understand, with numerous helpful examples and case studies and can be used as a practical guide and important educational tool on issues concerning freshwater emerging pollutants. The organisation of the book exposes the reader in logical succession to the full range of complex scientific and management aspects of emerging freshwater pollutants in the developing world. The book recognises that water chemistry, emerging freshwater pollutants and management are inter-dependent disciplines. The book covers (i) the different monitoring techniques, current analytical approaches and instrumental analyses, (ii) fate and occurrence of emerging pollutants in aquatic systems and (iii) management policies and legislations on emerging pollutants. Thus, subsequent chapters elucidate chemicals with pollution potential, multi-detection approaches to analysis of organic pollutants in water, microplastics effects and photochemical transformation of emerging pollutants in freshwater systems. Whereas, other chapters address oxidation of organic compounds in aquatic systems, biomonitoring systems for detection of toxic levels of water pollutants, and health aspects of water recycling practices. This book melds several different perspectives on the subject of freshwater emerging pollutants and shows the interrelationships between the various professions that deal with water quality issues. Further, within the presentation of each separate chapter is discussion of how the various scientific and management aspects of the subject interrelate. Includes case studies and practical examples in each chapter Presents a much-needed interdisciplinary approach, representing the overlap between water chemistry and emerging freshwater pollutants Provides a thorough introduction to emerging tropical and freshwater pollutants that typically occur in these systems
A one-stop, practical handbook containing all of the current commercial non-halogenated flame retardant technologies as well as experimental systems near commercialization In response to the emphasis on replacing halogenated flame retardants with alternate technologies, this handbook focuses on existing non-halogenated flame retardants and the experimental close-to-production systems that are available today. The Non-Halogenated Flame Retardant Handbook starts with an overview of the regulations and customer perceptions driving non-halogenated flame retardant selections over older halogenated technologies. It then moves on to cover the known major classes of non-halogenated flame retardants, before concluding with the current niche-performing technologies and untried commercial contenders of the future. The Non-Halogenated Flame Retardant Handbook: Takes a practical approach to addressing the narrow subject of non-halogenated flame retardancy—placing more emphasis on flame retardant selection for specific plastics, practical considerations in flame retardant material design, and the various technologies’ strengths and limits Focuses on the proper use of non-halogenated flame retardants, rather than the mechanics of how they work Discusses important future trends in flame retardancy Features sections written by industrial and chemical experts who know how to apply the technology to polymers for fire safety needs
