Companies Using Safer Alternatives to PBDEs
Manufacturers can avoid using PBDEs by designing products using inherently flame resistant materials, such
as: metal, glass, pre-ceramic polymers, Kevlar, leather, and natural
fibers including jute, hemp, and wool.
Or a safer flame retardant chemical that doesn't build up in our environment and our bodies can be used.
Many manufacturers of electronics, mattresses, and furniture have already stopped using PBDEs and are still meeting the highest fire safety standards.
Washington's PBDE bill will not prescribe what non-PBDE materials manufacturers should use, but instead allows flexibility on how to comply with the ban. The legislation's ban on the deca form of PBDE will be enacted in January 2010 only if the Washington Departments of Ecology and Health find a safer alternative to deca that is available at a reasonable cost AND approved by a fire safety committee made up of five fire association representatives. see bill summary>
Safer Alternatives for Electronics
Electronic manufacturers can meet the highest fire safety standards without using PBDEs. Many large computer companies have already voluntarily stopped using PBDEs and switched to inherently more fire-resistant materials, or the use of other chemical retardants. Because the bromine industry has voluntarily stopped manufacturing the highly toxic penta and octa forms of PBDEs, the focus of alternatives assessment is on safer, effective alternatives to the use of deca.
Companies that have stopped using PBDEs include: Dell, Canon, Hewlitt-Packard, Ericsson, Mitsubishi, and Sony. Many other companies are phasing out the use of PBDEs in their product lines.
See
Appendix C: Companies Phasing Out PBDEs in the Washington State PBDE Chemical Action Plan.
Matshushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries, which makes Panasonic brand tv's in Vancouver Washington, has already discontinued use of PBDEs, including deca.
Deca is already banned in electronics in Europe
Electronic products containing deca were banned in the European Union beginning in the summer of 2006. The European Union had previously decided to delay a ban on deca until 2010; then the EU found that deca PBDE mixtures are contaminated with a form of PBDE that was already banned in Europe. As a result, the EU banned any electronic product containing deca as of July 1, 2006.
Fire Protection Without Poisons
PBDEs in Wildlife & Puget Sound
2007 Priorities for a Healthy Washington
What leading electronics companies are saying about eliminating deca in their products:
“We currently avoid the use of BFRs [brominated flame retardants] by using plastics that can be flame retarded with non-halogenated compounds and by using design strategies that reduce the need to use flame retarded plastics at all.”
--Dell Computer Corporation, Position on Brominated Flame Retardants, December 13, 2005
see "Elimination of Brominated Flame Retardants" online at http://www.dell.com/content/topics/
global.aspx/corp/environment/en/dell_bfr?c=us&l=en&s=corp
“HP eliminated the use of two brominated flame retardants (BFRs) PBB and PBDE . . . . HP has removed the remaining BFRs from the plastic housings of the vast majority of HP products.”
--Hewlett-Packard, Material Use Statement http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/
productdesign/materialuse.html,
viewed March 6, 2006
“All virgin plastic presently used by Sony are ‘deca-free’ (Decabromodiphenyl ether). These products meet all relevant fire safety standards.”
--Sony Electronics, Letter to Washington State Representative Ross Hunter, March 3, 2006
By 2010, five of the eight major manufacturers selling TVs in the U.S. plan to have eliminated deca use. They are:
Sony
Panasonic
Philips
Samsung
LG Electronics
Safer Alternatives for Mattresses and Furniture
Mattress manufacturers must comply with federal flammability standards issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC standards allow for use of either (1) inherently fire-resistant materials, or (2) barriers that incorporate any of five fire retardants chemicals. The Washington State Department of Health has determined that several of these chemical options are safer than deca, including boric acid and melamine.
The Washington State Department of Ecology reports that Washington's mattress manufacturers (14 companies) do not currently use or plan to use PBDEs, including deca, in their products. Mattress companies with the major market share, such as Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Spring Air, do not use deca or any PBDEs. Fire barriers (many of which are inherently flame retardant) are the preferred approach to meet fire safety standards for mattresses.
Some furniture manufacturers are already avoiding use of PBDEs through using inherently fire-resistant materials or safer flame retardant chemicals.
Companies offering safer mattresses and furniture include:
- IKEA - all products, including furniture and mattresses, are PBDE-free. company web site>
- Greener Lifestyles - Seattle based. Sustainable, non-toxic furniture. company web site>
