ARE BFRs POPs?

Contrary to misrepresentations, BFRs are not POPs and are not on the United Nations POPs list. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemicals which would meet the 4 criteria as defined by the United Nations:

- Persitency (P)
- Bio-accumulation (B)
- Toxicity (T)
- Long Range Transport – (LRT)

There are 12 substances on the UN List of POPs. None of the main commercially available BFRs fulfil the criteria for being Persistent Organic Pollutant. Only one BFR that has been banned in the European Union (Penta-BDE) is considered as potential candidate to become part of the POP list.

Equally, BFRs are not PBT (Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic) substances since they do not fulfill all of the three criteria. BFRs have to be Persistent in order to perform their function of fire resistance over long periods of time (e.g. over 30 years for insulation boards inside walls).

Please click here for more information on the UN Environment Program (UNEP)

Persistence - P

Are BFRs persistent?

Yes, most of BFRs are Persistent but persistence in itself is harmless. Typically a stone is persistent as it will not degrade in the environment.

Equally BFRs are designed to maintain the fire safety properties over the whole lifetime of the product they protect, thus, persistence is an essential requirement of their properties and consequently most BFRs are persistent. These properties also allow for good recyclability of these products, since the BFRs remain stable during the recycling process.

Bio-accumulation - B

Most BFRs are not bioaccumulative or in other words they do not stay or build up in human fatty tissues. Due to their high molecular weight and their low water solubility, they are not normally taken up by organisms. Only few of the many commercial BFRs are bioaccumulative like HBCD and TBBPA.

One of the main BFRs on the market called Deca-BDE and used in E&E equipment was proven not bio-accumulative according to the World Health Organisation and the EU Risk Assessment.

Toxicity – T

The toxicity profile of brominated flame retardants, in contrast to other flame retardants, is relatively well understood. For more information on the environment and health properties of brominated flame retardants please click here

Also, click here to read about a study on brominated flame retardants published by the World Health Organisation

Long-Range Transport – LRT

Do BFRs undergo long-range transport?

Most BFRs don't. Two independent studies have assessed the potential of selected BFRs for long-range transport (LRT) – please see below. The results indicate that some of the most commonly used BFRs - DecaBDE, OctaBDE, HBCD and TBBPA - have only very limited potential for LRT. Only the commercial PentaBDE was found to undergo significant LRT. The above model calculations are confirmed by environmental monitoring data, which indicate that DecaBDE, OctaBDE, HBCD and TBBPA are mainly found near point sources.

The potential to reach remote areas is an important criterion for qualifying substances as "persistent organic pollutants" (POPs). The above results indicate that DecaBDE, OctaBDE, HBCD and TBBPA do not meet this criterion and consequently do not qualify as POPs.

Study assesing the long-range transport potential of polybrominated diphenyl ethers: a comparison of four multimedia models

This study found an insignificant potential of Deca- and OctaBDE for long-range transport.

Abstract:
Data from a comprehensive literature search of environmentally relevant physical-chemical properties for nine polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), ranging from a monobrominated congener to the fully brominated decabromodiphenyl ether, were evaluated and adjusted to achieve both internal and interhomologue consistency. These data were then used in four model based long-range transport potential (LRTP) assessment methods. The models TaPL3-2.10, ELPOS-1.1.1, Chemrange-2, and Globo-POP-1.1 were found to yield comparable predictions […].

Authors:
Independent study directed by Prof. Frank Wania, University of Toronto.

For a copy of the complete study, please contact Dr. Klaus Rothenbacher at mail@bsef.com or by telephone: 0032 2 733 9370

Assessing the Long-Range Transport Potential of Tetrabromobisphenol A and Hexabromocyclododecane using Several Multimedia Transport Models

This study concluded that both HBCD and TBBPA have a very low potential for long-range transport.

Abstract:
Data from a comprehensive literature search of environmentally relevant physical-chemical properties for Tetrabromobisphenol A and Hexabromocyclododecane were evaluated and adjusted to achieve consistency. These data were then used in four model-based long-range transport potential (LRTP) assessment methods. A comparison of the LRTP estimates for TBBPA and HBCD with those of the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) suggest that these two chemicals have a LRTP comparable to that highly brominated diphenyl ethers. This suggests that TBBPA and HBCD have a very low potential to reach remote areas, which is dependent on the long range transport behaviour of the atmospheric particulate matter to which they sorb.

Authors:
Study directed by Prof. Wania, University of Toronto, and sponsored by BSEF.

For a copy of the complete study, please contact Dr. Klaus Rothenbacher at mail@bsef.com or by telephone: 0032 2 733 9370