Flame Retardants and Furniture Fire Safety

Transcription

1 Flame Retardants and Furniture Fire Safety Dr Kevin Bradley Secretary General, International Bromine Council Facilities Management Ireland Conference, 7th March 2018

2 ABOUT BSEF

3 BSEF, THE INTERNATIONAL BROMINE COUNCIL, WAS ORIGINALLY ESTABLISHED IN 1997 TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE BENEFITS OF BROMINE FOR SOCIETY AND ECONOMY North American Flame Retardant Alliance BSEF SEC Flame Retardants Europe BSEF India BSEF China BSEF Japan ABICHAMA 3

4 MISSION Represent and be the voice of the bromine technology industry globally Provide information on the benefits of bromine and bromine technologies for society and economy Commission and disseminate science on bromine and bromine technologies Support BSEF members and market organizations in their engagement with policy makers and regulatory authorities 4

5 WHERE IS BROMINE USED? Reduction of mercury emissions Fire safety Water treatment & completion fluids Energy storage Pharma & life Sciences 5 Rubber

6 Flame Retardants and Furniture Fire Safety 6

7 MODERN CITIES AND LIFESTYLES INCREASE FIRE RISKS Bigger cities, taller buildings, increased use of synthetic polymer materials (furnishings, building materials, electronics, cabling), more portable devices requiring faster charging times The result is a significant increase in the fire load of buildings and their contents increasing fire risk Which is why we have and need robust fire safety regulations, standards and testing 7

8 WHEN FIRES OCCUR, THEY HAVE CONSEQUENCES Civilian Impact CO, smoke Fire itself Loss of Property 1,342,000 attended by public fire departments in 2016 (1,451,500 fires attended in 2008) NFPA reports fires causing 13.3 Bn USD in property loss in 2011) 358,000 of all structure fires occurred in residential properties between 2011 & 2015 Home fires caused 83% of all fire deaths 3,390 civilian fire deaths (2016) (3,320 in 2008), of these, 2,745 occurred in the home (2,755 in 2008) 14,650 civilian fire injuries (2016); (16,705 in 2008) Fire Fighter Impact Toxic gases during a fire Toxic gases post fire Toxic residues in fire area and on equipment 8 Source: An Overview of the US Fire Problem and related fire fact sheets. NFPA, Quincy, MA Liberal use of NFPA fact sheets is allowable with attribution.

9 CLOSER TO HOME - UK FIRES STATISTICS fire related fatalities & 7,081 nonfatal causalities ~ 4.7 deaths/1 million people ~ 9.7 deaths/million people (65-79 yr old) No. Acc Dwelling House Fires (England). UK Fire Stats, 2017 Causes Cooking appliances cause 49% of accidental dwelling fires, but resulted in 50% non-fatal and only 9% fatal casualties Smokers materials source of ignition for 6% of fires and 8% non-fatal causalities However, smokers materials are the source of 36% fire related fatalities by far the highest source in accidental fire related fatalities 9

10 THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS Fire safety standards are the cornerstone of modern fire safety strategies and intended to minimize the reaction to fire of materials and products used in different living environments: Homes, Office building, Institutions and Transportation systems (public & private) Standards are generally performance based. Meaning a given material, combination or product needs to pass specific tests in order to meet the standard Product manufacturers, building engineers/architects, fire engineers, building and fire services professionals all work with standards either to make, design, construct or to verify and check 10

11 FURNITURE AND UPHOLSTERY STANDARDS In the past number of decades, upholstered furniture fires have continuously decreased in the U.S., the UK as well as Ireland Key reasons are the stringent fire safety regulations and mandatory tests for upholstered furniture in private homes in California, the UK and Ireland But upholstered furniture still remains the leading item first ignited by low energy ignition sources such as cigarettes, matches, lighters and candles 5 in the UK In the U.S. the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report on the Residential Fire Loss estimates, smoking materials have shown to be the largest contributor to deaths, associated with an annual average of 450 deaths from 2009 to Troitzsch J (2016) Fires, statistics, ignition sources, and passive fire protection measures. Journal of Fire Sciences, 2016, DOI: / Miller D (2013) Residential Fire Loss Estimates. CPSC, July

12 UK FURNITURE & FURNISHINGS REGULATIONS KEY MILESTONE Since the introduction of the UK FFRS in Nov. 1988, there has been a declining trend in fatalities A 2009 review on behalf of the government concluded that the FFRs: save the UK economy 140 million per year save 54 lives a year prevent 780 injuries Fatalities from fires, Great Britain, 1982/ Greenstreet & Berman, A statistical report to investigate the effectiveness of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations Department for Communities and Local Government (2014) Fire Statistics: Great Britain April 2012 to March 2013, p

13 Ireland - mirrored UK approach to more stringent Furniture fire safety SI No. 298/1980 Industrial Research and Standards (Fire Safety Requirements for Upholstered Furniture) Order, 1980 SI No. 336/1988 Industrial Research and Standards (Fire Safety) (Domestic Furniture) Order, 1988 SI 316/1995 Industrial Research and Standards (Fire Safety) (Domestic Furniture) Order,

14 UK FURNITURE & FURNISHINGS SAFETY REGULATIONS REVIEW BIS (now BEIS) put forward proposals to amend the FFRs and laid these open to Public Consultation ( July to October 14) Main proposals : To amend the match test so that the test is conducted over FR foam instead of non-fr foam ( as is the case now ) To discard the cigarette test where the fabric has passed the match test To include materials within 40 mm of the cover in the scope Stated objectives of the proposals : 1. To minimise the use of harmful brominated flame retardants and thereby make UK furniture greener 2. To reduce costs to industry ( estimated savings up to 50 M) 3. To make UK furniture more fire safe This consultation was abandoned and subsequently relaunched in 2016 A recent 2 nd consultation by BEIS concluded in November We still await the assessment of the outcome 14

15 FLAME RETARDANTS AND HOW THEY WORK Flame retardants are added to or incorporated into different materials or they are applied as a treatment to materials such as textiles and plastics The introduction of flame retardants in the polymer mixture is an efficient strategy to improve the material fire performance in a cost-effective way and without compromising the physical properties of the final product There are some 200+ different kinds of FRs across a range of chemistries 15

16 FLAME RETARDANTS AND HOW THEY WORK Flame retardants work by one of three mechanisms Interruption of radical mechanism of combustion process in the gas phase Reaction in the solid phase to form a carbonaceous char which serves as a barrier between fuel and the heat and oxygen source Endothermic processes, such as release of water, to remove the heat from the reaction They act to inhibit or delay ignition of the material This is where Flame Retardants are most effective Aim is to give people more time to escape the fire 16

17 BENEFITS OF FLAME RETARDANTS - Reduce the impact fires have on people, property and the environment - FRs significantly delay ignition in the early stages and therefore: allow for longer escape and response times provide increased survival chances provide additional time for the fire brigade to reach the fire 17

18 BENEFITS OF FLAME RETARDANTS The benefits of the use of FR formulated products in reducing injuries, and the loss of life and property are well documented. Conclusions of a study by the US National Bureau of Standards that with flame retardants: Escape times can be as much as 15X greater 75% less heat release 2/3 less carbon monoxide equivalents The effective use of flame retardants reduces the risk of loss of life and property and the environmental impact of fires. 18

19 FLAME RETARDANTS - HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS In the early 1990s, the flame retardant market saw a number of legislative measures aimed at restricting the use of certain halogenated compounds due to concerns over their accumulation in biological systems This was followed in the 2000s by the restriction and global banning of three brominated flame retardants (PBBs and PBDEs) In recent years, another two have also been banned or listed under the Stockholm Convention HBCD (used in foams) and Deca-BDE Important to remember that as with all chemicals, the EU REACH regulation ensures that flame retardants on the market in the EU are well regulated and their uses in products and materials are in accordance with chemical safety assessments 19

20 SOME QUESTION THE NEED FOR FLAME RETARDANTS Alongside the H&E concerns, activists have called into question the efficacy of FRs - they don t work; you don t need them After a sustained campaign in California by activists, CA TB the de facto US standard for flammability tests for domestic upholstered furniture was changed so as not to require the use of FRs in 2013 The immediate impact of this was not only to remove the requirement for FR use in California but the whole of the US because the CA standard/test was the US benchmark Consequences: Increase in domestic fire-related deaths/injuries and economic damage? too early to tell, but it will be measured The US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) now developing a 20 flaming-ignition test for upholstered furniture to plug the gap

21 EU FIRE CHIEFS THINK OTHERWISE THEY WANT MORE STRINGENT STANDARDS AND TESTING FEU 2017* Recommendations on fire safety testing for furniture & mattresses: This can be summarized as follows: Upholstered furniture should be tested in the following way: Testing on a composite level Testing on the end use combination Testing of representative combinations When it comes to testing mattresses, the FEU recommends: Testing full scale mattress or a small scale sample Testing of representative combination 21 *Hagen, R, et. Al. Fire safety of upholstered furniture and mattresses in the domestic area: European fire services recommendations on test methods. FEU, 2017

22 EU DEVELOPMENTS - MORE COORDINATION ON FIRE SAFETY? Fire safety (*) is a Member State competence subsidiarity However, in response to stakeholder concerns over a number of fire safety concerns smoke toxicity, combustible insulation and not least the Grenfell tragedy, a Fire Information Exchange Platform (FIEP) has been set up Met for first time in November Outcome: Data currently the data is too diverse. Speaking the same language is the first step to build something together Exchange of practices in terms of fire prevention. Lessons learned from the accidents experienced. New products talk not only about materials but also about products (solar panels, roofs, facades, high buildings ). Fire Safety engineering rules and guiding principles. Domestic risks - will be addressed horizontally in all the work-streams The idea is to have FIEP meetings as an umbrella guiding under the working areas. Meetings will probably take place once per year. Commission is reflecting internally about detailed organization *E&E is regulated via CEN/CENLEC 22

23 By making our goods non-flammable and flame retarding, and with the help of many sectors and scientific disciplines we will minimize the number of precious lives lost in fires and the terrible social impact associated with this Professor Masaru Kitano, Shukutoku University, Japan (Introduction to Flame Retardancy Protect your life and property from fire, 2016)