Ecology Center Recommendations Regarding Flame Retardants in Cars Could Undermine Fire Safety

Attack on Life-Saving Flame Retardants Ignore Fire Dangers; Promotes Use of Less-Tested Substances

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, MI, is recommending that automobile manufacturers abandon one of the most effective flame retardants available for preventing car fires. Automobiles contain numerous heat sources and car fires remain a common occurrence in the U.S.

The Ecology Center report "Toxic at Any Speed: Chemicals in Cars and the Need for Safe Alternatives," attacks the use of the brominated flame retardant Deca-BDE, which is used in the plastic housings of electrical equipment and in the backcoating of some upholstery coverings to prevent fires. Deca-BDE has been extensively studied in the U.S. and Europe -- including a 10-year-long risk assessment -- and found to be safe for continued use.

If automobile manufacturers follow the guidance in the report, it could result in lowering fire safety for the public, as well as promoting the use of unidentified "alternative" substances about which very little may be known.

"Automobiles are significant heat sources and therefore require the most effective flame retardants available," said Dr. Raymond B. Dawson, chairman of the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF). "In 2004 alone, there were approximately 297,000 car fires in the United States, leading to 550 deaths. If effective flame retardants were not used, this number would certainly be higher."

The European Union undertook an extensive risk assessment of Deca-BDE covering 588 studies, which found no human or environmental risks and which concluded that there is no need for additional regulation. Based on the risk assessment, the European Commission exempted Deca-BDE from its Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive in a decision published in its Official Journal on October 15, 2005. This fact is conspicuously omitted from the Ecology Center report.

"For its specific uses, Deca-BDE is the best, most proven product on the market," said Dr. Dawson. "The Ecology Center is ignoring the science that supports this product, and demanding that manufacturers abandon the known for the unknown. To ask manufacturers to abandon well-tested products for less proven alternatives is ill-advised and goes against the fundamental principles of sound chemical regulatory policy."

Dr. Dawson also noted that the Ecology Center report simply groups together several different flame retardants and treats them as one substance, when in fact they are distinctly different chemicals, two of which are no longer in production. Additionally, the levels of these flame retardants found in car dust and windshield film, as reported by the Ecology Center, are extremely low, in the parts per billion and parts per trillion range. By way of example, a part per billion is equivalent to one second in 32 years; a part per trillion is equivalent to one second on 32,000 years.

BSEF is the international organization of the bromine chemical industry, whose purpose is to inform stakeholders and commission science on brominated chemicals such as flame retardants.