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TBBPA flame retardant wins EU approval
ENVIRONMENT
ABD system, ‘will shorten product development cycles from months or weeks to days or even hours’, he added. William Ravenna, managing director of ColorMatrix Europe and Asia, said that the new facility ‘clearly demonstrates ColorMatrix’s commitment to the Asia Pacific market’. The company has been doing business in the region since 1995, managed from its commercial office in Hong Kong, but Asian customers will now further benefit from the advantages of ‘local production and speed of delivery’ that the vicinity of the Suzhou manufacturing plant will provide, Ravenna said. Contact: ColorMatrix, Berea, OH, USA. Tel: +1 216 622 0100, Web: www.colormatrix.com Or contact: Industrial Design Consultancy Ltd (IDC), Datchet, UK. Tel: +44 1753 590922, Web: www.idc.uk.com
ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES TBBPA flame retardant wins EU approval
T
etrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), the largest-volume brominated flame retardant in use today, has been approved by the European Union (EU) as safe for human health and the environment. The approval follows an eightyear EU risk assessment to evaluate the effects of the chemical.
TBBPA is used to improve the fire safety of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and plastics in electrical and electronic equipment. According to the European Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Panel (EBFRIP; www.ebfrip.com), it is the most popular brominated flame retardant and used in more than 70% of the world’s electrical and electronic appliances.
May 2008
As a result of the extensive risk assessment, EU Member State experts have concluded that TBBPA presents no risk to human health. They also agreed that there is no risk to the environment when TBBPA is used as a reactive component, such as in PCBs. For the additive use of TBBPA in plastics casings for electrical and electronic goods, an environmental risk was identified in one production plant in Europe only. To address this risk the EU approved a risk reduction strategy and, after reviewing all possibilities, it recommended a proportionate measure requesting an environmental permit to control and reduce emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention Control). No risk was identified for any other production plants or in enduse articles and, as a result, no legislative restriction for TBBPA is foreseen. TBBPA is therefore approved by the EU for all its applications. The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) has also announced its agreement with the conclusions of the environment part of TBBPA’s risk assessment, which was closed in June 2007 [ADPO, July 2007]; the human health component was completed and approved by SCHER in 2005 [ibid, December 2005]. As the next step, the EU will publish the conclusions of the TBBPA risk assessment before June 2008 in the EU Official Journal. This will in turn enable a smooth transition of the flame retardant through the REACH registration process, as the science needed to register TBBPA has already been completed in the context of the risk assessment, says EBFRIP chair Dr Veronique Steukers. She also confirms that TBBPA is not affected by the RoHS Directive, concerning the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. ‘Based on the results of the risk assessment, there is no basis for including TBBPA in the upcoming revision of this directive’, Steukers adds. TBBPA is one of 75 brominated flame retardants and the largest in terms of volume. As a reactive chemical it is used in more than 95% of FR-4 and CM-3 PCBs, as well as in the majority of CM-1 laminates, according to the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF; www.bsef.com). It is also used as an additive flame retardant, mainly in ABS plastic housings.
Additives for Polymers
11
ABD system, ‘will shorten product development cycles from months or weeks to days or even hours’, he added. William Ravenna, managing director of ColorMatrix Europe and Asia, said that the new facility ‘clearly demonstrates ColorMatrix’s commitment to the Asia Pacific market’. The company has been doing business in the region since 1995, managed from its commercial office in Hong Kong, but Asian customers will now further benefit from the advantages of ‘local production and speed of delivery’ that the vicinity of the Suzhou manufacturing plant will provide, Ravenna said. Contact: ColorMatrix, Berea, OH, USA. Tel: +1 216 622 0100, Web: www.colormatrix.com Or contact: Industrial Design Consultancy Ltd (IDC), Datchet, UK. Tel: +44 1753 590922, Web: www.idc.uk.com
ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES TBBPA flame retardant wins EU approval
T
etrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), the largest-volume brominated flame retardant in use today, has been approved by the European Union (EU) as safe for human health and the environment. The approval follows an eightyear EU risk assessment to evaluate the effects of the chemical.
TBBPA is used to improve the fire safety of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and plastics in electrical and electronic equipment. According to the European Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Panel (EBFRIP; www.ebfrip.com), it is the most popular brominated flame retardant and used in more than 70% of the world’s electrical and electronic appliances.
May 2008
As a result of the extensive risk assessment, EU Member State experts have concluded that TBBPA presents no risk to human health. They also agreed that there is no risk to the environment when TBBPA is used as a reactive component, such as in PCBs. For the additive use of TBBPA in plastics casings for electrical and electronic goods, an environmental risk was identified in one production plant in Europe only. To address this risk the EU approved a risk reduction strategy and, after reviewing all possibilities, it recommended a proportionate measure requesting an environmental permit to control and reduce emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention Control). No risk was identified for any other production plants or in enduse articles and, as a result, no legislative restriction for TBBPA is foreseen. TBBPA is therefore approved by the EU for all its applications. The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) has also announced its agreement with the conclusions of the environment part of TBBPA’s risk assessment, which was closed in June 2007 [ADPO, July 2007]; the human health component was completed and approved by SCHER in 2005 [ibid, December 2005]. As the next step, the EU will publish the conclusions of the TBBPA risk assessment before June 2008 in the EU Official Journal. This will in turn enable a smooth transition of the flame retardant through the REACH registration process, as the science needed to register TBBPA has already been completed in the context of the risk assessment, says EBFRIP chair Dr Veronique Steukers. She also confirms that TBBPA is not affected by the RoHS Directive, concerning the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. ‘Based on the results of the risk assessment, there is no basis for including TBBPA in the upcoming revision of this directive’, Steukers adds. TBBPA is one of 75 brominated flame retardants and the largest in terms of volume. As a reactive chemical it is used in more than 95% of FR-4 and CM-3 PCBs, as well as in the majority of CM-1 laminates, according to the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF; www.bsef.com). It is also used as an additive flame retardant, mainly in ABS plastic housings.
Additives for Polymers
11