Alternatives To PBDE Toxic Flame Retardants: Section 4

This is a section of a report that summarizes the toxicological information for alternatives to pentaBDE.

This section summarizes the toxicological and exposure characteristics of each chemical in alternative flame-retardant formulations that are considered viable substitutes for pentaBDE use in flexible polyurethane foam. Chemical components less than 1 percent by weight were not considered in this assessment. The characteristics of the chemicals in each formulation are summarized qualitatively in Section 4.1 using a relative ranking scheme and more detailed characteristics of the chemicals in each formulation are presented in Section 4.2.

Volume 1 contains the purpose and scope of the assessment, a description of the general characteristics of flame retardants, a general overview of exposure pathways and routes for flame retardants used in flexible polyurethane foam and the results of the assessments of 14 formulations of flame-retardant products most likely to replace commercially available pentabromodiphenyl ether (pentaBDE).

Volume 2 contains the detailed chemical hazard reviews that serve as the basis for the summary assessments in section 4 of volume 1. An overview of this report is provided in the Flame-Retardant Alternatives for Furniture Foam Fact Sheet PDF"