A New Range of PBDE Fire Retardants

Chem Service, Inc. (USA) is now home to 8 new polybrominated diphenyl ether products. With more than 50 years of experience, Chem Service, Inc. will bring its industry leading quality and purity standards to these new PBDEs as it has to all of its other products.

PBDEs are commonly used as fire retardants in insulation furniture foam, automobiles, building materials, plastics used for electronics and a variety of other products. There are three common forms of PBDEs that are used or mixed together in commercial products to reduce flammability - pentabromodiphenyl ether (c-pentaBDE), decabromodiphenyl ether (c-decaBDE) and octabromodiphenyl ether (c-octaBDE). The classes are determined by the number of bromines attached to each: PentaBDE has five, octaBDE has eight and decaBDE has 10.

The Environmental Protection Agency has consistently added to its significant new use rules on PBDEs in the past decade. Starting with the support of a voluntary end of production of pentaBDEs and octaBDEs in 2004, the EPA has moved to further assess the impact of decaBDE and regulate PBDE safe use in the manufacturing industry. Many of the EPA's actions have been in response to public concern over the use of PBDEs in certain consumer goods, as evidence has suggested that PBDEs do not bond well with many of the materials that they are manufactured with and are potentially harmful to the environment.

These regulations underscore the importance of the proper and safe use of PBDEs for manufacturing. PBDEs from Chem Service, Inc. can be used in a variety of commercial electronics and goods to prevent products from burning easily or spreading fire. Chem Service, Inc. offers 95 percent of its chemicals with a 98 percent purity or higher, so there is no need for purity correction.