Perspectives on Flame retardants

Petra Andersson SP Fire Technology

www.sp.se

SP Fire Technology

Situated in Borås Sweden

SP Staff: approx. 900

Fire Tech Staff: approx. 55

www.sp.se

Perspectives on Flame Retardants

AdvantagesPrevent Fires, thereby:• Save lives• Minimise environmental impact of fires

DisadvantagesEnvironmental and toxicological impact during production, use and waste Emissions during fires

…necessary to weigh the costs of FRs against the benefits of their use.

Flame Retardants: Types

• Organic compounds containing– halogens, predominantly bromine and chlorine, + synergists

(antimony, tin)– Phosphorous – Nitrogen (often as a synergist with Phosphorous)

• Inorganic compounds– aluminium-, magnesium hydroxides– ammonium polyphosphate

• Reactive or Additive

Perspective on Flame retardants – Toxicity

Exposure from

- production – risks mitigated through emission control

- use – risk evaluated in e.g. EU risk assessments

- waste handling – risk evaluated in e.g. EU risk assessments

- fire

Exposure through

- inhalation

- dermal

- oral

Toxicity different for each FR

Perspective on Flame retardants – ecotoxicity - LCA

Perspective of Flame retardants – Fire-LCA

Weighs function of FRs against environmental cost…

Fire - LCA – Input needed

Normal LCA input data needed, e.g.:• energy consumption during production, use etc • raw materials needed • emissions during production and use, • etc.

Fire statistics, e.g.:• How many fires start in the product per year with and without

flame retardants?• How many products burn per year?

Fire Emission data:

• CO, PAH, CO2, Dioxins, Furans, etc.

Fire Emission data

Fire-LCA example of results

PAH

0

200

400

600

800

NFR TVToday

FR TVToday

NFR TVFuture

FR TVFuture

kg PAH

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Non FR P-FR Br-FR

kg

TV Case Study Furniture Case Study

Fire-LCA example of results

CO

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

NFR TVToday

FR TVToday

NFR TVFuture

FR TVFuture

million kg

PAH

0

200

400

600

800

NFR TVToday

FR TVToday

NFR TVFuture

FR TVFuture

kg

CO

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Non FR P-FR Br-FR

million kg

PAH

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Non FR P-FR Br-FR

kg

Fire-LCA example of results

PAH

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Non FR P-FR Br-FR

kg TCDD

0.00E+00

5.00E-06

1.00E-05

1.50E-05

2.00E-05

2.50E-05

Non

FR

P-F

R

Br-

FR

kg/million sofas

Furniture prod

Repl Prod

Landfill

Incineration

Heat Recovery

FR production

fire

Total

Furniture-case study

Comparing cancer risk results in a higher risk for the non-FR case in this study

Fire-LCA - Limitations

Focuses on environmental impact

Difficult to evaluate different emissions against each other

Does not include number of lives saved or injuries

Does not include costs for fire damage or cost for FR production

Does not include societal impact

Fire-CBA

Input parameters:

Production costs

End of Life, disposal costs

Fires: value of a statistical life, cost of burn treatment, cost of property (fire statistics)

Chemical exposure costs

Fire-CBA applied to TV with DecaBDE

Costs: incremental increases in cost to flame retard a product; additional costs for disposal

Benefits: lives saved; injuries avoided; capital costs avoided

Application to DecaBDE use in TV-sets• No cost assigned to the injuries due to exposure to DecaBDE• Incremental cost of manufacture of the FR and disposal of FR

material included• Cost of lives lost, injuries treated and capital costs associated

with fires included

…Between US$657 – 1 380 million can be saved each year by use of high level of fire performance in TV-sets.

Limitations with Fire-CBA

Difficult to estimate costs in some cases, i.e.

risk of thinner shells on Falcon eggs

anxiety

debate

risk for unknown impact

Conclusions

Not possible to make general conclusions about all Flame Retardants

The advantages and disadvantages with Flame Retardants must be evaluated case by case.

The application and the specific FR must be evaluated

Imperative to team up fire expertise and toxicologists/ecotoxicologists for a true evaluation of FRs

More research is needed into the toxicity/ecotoxicity of FRs in different applications and methods to evaluate FRs.