International regulations

Brominated flame retardants (BFRS) and the United Nations protocols

None of the mainstream brominated flame retardants (BFRs) commercially available in Europe are included in the United Nations (UN) ‘Persistent Organic Pollutants’ (POPs) list of substances. Commercial Penta-BDE and commercial Octa-BDE, which have both been phased out, are listed as POPs. HBCD is currently being considered as a potential candidate.

Under the Kiev Protocol, scheduled to enter into force on 11 July 2010, PBDEs would be subject to notification for emissions to water and land respectively exceeding 1kg/year per plant. BSEF takes the view that reporting requirements are important for the understanding and tracking of levels of emissions into the environment. However, this threshold of 1kg per industrial plant per year may be discriminating against Brominated Flame Retardants in comparison to other limits set for other chemical substances.