Brominated Flame Retardants PrefaceThe purpose of this project has been to analyse the flow of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) through the Danish society and identify sources of releases of these compounds to the environment and waste. In the second part of the project an assessment of the possibility of substituting other flame retardants for brominated flame retardants for specific applications have been carried out. Background Brominated flame retardants are used for fire precautions with the purpose of protecting human life, health and property. The compounds have some technical advantages in many types of plastic and a relatively low human toxicity. During the last decades, the consumption of brominated flame retardants has globally grown dramatically due to the growth in the use of synthetic polymers and the introduction of more rigorous fire safety requirements. As a consequence of the chemical stability of the compounds, the brominated flame retardants, however, have a tendency to accumulate and spread in the environment. This accumulation in combination with some environmental adverse effects of the compounds has during the last decade placed the brominated flame retardants in the international focus. During the last few years new results showing that brominated flame retardants are emitted from products in use and are present in the human body and breast milk in measurable quantities have further increased the focus on the compounds (e.g. /1,2/). Esbjerg Declaration In the ministerial declaration of the fourth North Sea Conference in 1993, the ministers agreed to take concerted action within the framework of the competent international forums to substitute the use of brominated flame retardants, among other hazardous substances, by less hazardous or preferably non-hazardous substances where these alternatives are available. List of Undesirable Substances As a consequence of the ministerial declaration of the fourth North Sea Conference, brominated flame retardants have been placed on the List of Undesirable Substances, prepared by the Danish Ministry of the Environment. International work on flame retardants is carried out in several forums. EU The European Union has prohibited the use of polybrominated biphenyls in textiles. Under the Regulation on Existing substances, EEC/793/93, France and The UK have jointly assigned decabromodiphenyl ether (DeBDE) and octabromodiphenyl ether (OcBDE), The UK have additionally assigned pentabromodiphenyl ether (PeBDE) and Sweden have assigned HBCD for risk assessment. The draft versions of the three risk assessments of the brominated diphenyl ethers have been available for the preparation of the present analysis /3,4,5/. The first draft version of the HBCD risk assessment was finished by March 1999 and has not been available for this study. IPCS Under IPCS, the International Programme on Chemical Safety, Environmental Health Criteria monographs have been prepared for polybrominated biphenyls (1994) /6/, brominated diphenyl ethers (1994) /7/, and tetrabromobisphenol A and derivatives (1995) /8/. Additionally a general introduction to flame retardants has been prepared in 1997 /9/. In the monographs it is recommended that polybrominated biphenyls and pentabromodiphenyl ether should not be used commercially. One of the main concerns regarding brominated flame retardants is the transformation of the flame retardants into polybrominated di-benzop-dioxins and dibenzofurans. An Environmental Health Criteria monograph for these compounds has recently been prepared /10/. In the monograph it is recommended that brominated flame retardants should not be used where suitable replacements are available, and future efforts should encourage the development of further substitutes. OECD Under the OECD risk reduction programme a risk reduction monograph on selected brominated flame retardants has been prepared /11/. Following the publication of the monograph, OECD engaged in discussions with the manufacturers of the brominated flame retardants. US and European industry have developed a Voluntary Industry Commitment on actions they will undertake to further manage risks posed by the manufacture, import and export of these flame retardants. Joint meetings between OECD and the industry oversee industry's implementation of the commitments. National initiatives A number of national activities concerning BFRs have been initiated. The present report includes a survey of national activities with respect to regulation, soft regulation, risk and hazard assessment activities and national positions on the issue of brominated flame retardants. Method The substance flow analysis is performed in accordance with the Danish Environmental Agency's paradigm for substance flow analyses /12/. The analysis of the consumption of BFRs with manufactured products is carried out at a screening level. At present no Danish analyses of BFRs in waste water, sludge, flue gas or residues from solid waste incineration exist. As a consequence the turnover of BFRs with waste products has been estimated from scenarios based on the most probable assumptions. All values are represented by intervals. The intervals represent the range within which the authors estimate that the right value will be with a probability of 80%. Abbreviations Abbreviations of plastics and chemical compounds used in the report are explained in appendix 2. Steering committee The project has been followed by a steering committee with the following members: Elisabeth Paludan (chair), Danish Environmental Protection Agency Authors The report has been prepared by Carsten Lassen and Søren Løkke, COWI Consulting Engineers and Planners, and Lina Ivar Andersen, Danish Institute of Fire Technology. The quality assessment has been carried out by Erik Hansen, COWI Consulting Engineers and Planners.
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