Partnership to Evaluate Flame Retardant Alternatives to HBCD
About the Project | Milestones and Publications | Partnership Participants
About the Partnership to Evaluate Flame Retardant Alternatives to HBCD
This partnership addressed viable alternatives to hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) for use in expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) and extruded polystyrene foam (XPS). Although HBCD is used in a variety of materials, such as textiles and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) in electronics housings, it is most commonly used as a flame retardant in EPS and XPS, which are used as rigid foam insulation in the building and construction industry.
Readers interested in alternatives for HBCD’s secondary uses, such as in textiles and electronics housings, can refer to DfE’s Flame Retardant Alternatives for Decabromodiphenyl Ether (DecaBDE) Partnership, which considers alternative flame retardants for a wider range of polymers and applications.
Announcements
On June 12, 2014, through its Design for the Environment (DfE) program, EPA released a final alternatives assessment for "Flame Retardant Alternatives for Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)".
The public comment period on the draft assessment was open from September 24 until November 22, 2013, and was reopened from November 25 to December 6, 2013. Seven sets of formal written public comments were received and can be retrieved in Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPPT-2013-0379 via www.regulations.gov.
Why did DfE conduct an alternatives assessment?
Under its Existing Chemical Management Program, EPA issued an Action Plan for HBCD, calling for DfE to convene a multi-stakeholder alternatives assessment to help decisionmakers choose safer alternatives to HBCD. Read more about DfE's Alternatives Assessments.
Participation of all interest groups in the alternatives assessment for HBCD was aimed at ensuring that the full range of views was considered from the start of the project and that they were incorporated appropriately into the project objective and methodology.
Background on Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)
HBCD is a brominated flame retardant that has been found to have persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) characteristics. EPA’s Action Plan for HBCD identified the chemical as persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative in living organisms, and highly toxic to aquatic organisms.
Human exposure is evidenced by the presence of HBCD in breast milk, adipose tissue, and blood, and it biomagnifies in the food chain.
HBCD also presents human health concerns based on animal test results indicating potential reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects. People may be exposed to HBCD from products and dust in the home and workplace.
For general information on flame retardants, read the Consumer Fact Sheet on Flame Retardant Chemicals.
Milestones
All publications from this partnership are available online.
| Milestones | Completion Date |
|---|---|
| Partnership kickoff meeting | April 5, 2011 |
| Finalize project scope | April 2011 |
| Finalize the identification of alternative flame retardants | May 2011 |
| Completed draft report, "An Alternatives Assessment for the Flame Retardant Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)" for public review and comment | September 2013 |
| Posted final report, "An Alternatives Assessment for the Flame Retardant Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)" | June 12, 2014 |
Partnership Participants
| Academics | |
|---|---|
| Alissa Cordner | Whitman College |
| Heather Stapleton | Duke University |
| Inez Hua | Purdue University |
| Jeffrey Youngblood | Purdue University |
| Alexander Morgan | University of Dayton |
| Ramaswamy Nagarajan | University of Massachusetts - Lowell |
| Automotive Industry | |
| Filipa Rio | Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers |
| Nakia Simon | Chrysler Group LLC |
| Lynn Smith | United States Council for Automotive Research, LLC (USCAR) |
| Bing Xu | United States Council for Automotive Research, LLC (USCAR) |
| Building and Construction Industry | |
| Ted Grant | AtlasEPS |
| Walter Reiter | EPS Industry Alliance |
| Betsy Steiner | EPS Industry Alliance |
| Tom Lent | Healthy Building Network |
| Barbara Fabian | Owens Corning |
| Kenneth Franklin | Pactiv Building Products |
| Sarah Buffaloe | U.S. Green Building Council |
| Whit Faulconer | U.S. Green Building Council |
| Reed Hitchcock | XPSA |
| John Ferraro | XPSA |
| Eugene Zimmermann | Zimermann Management Solutions |
| Electronics Industry | |
| Helen Holder | Hewlett-Packard |
| Cory Robertson | Hewlett-Packard |
| Joon Chang | Samsung Electronics America |
| Dinah Rhee | Samsung Electronics America |
| Chemical Manufacturers | |
| Ray Dawson | Albemarle Chemicals |
| Susan Landry | Albemarle Chemicals |
| Jackson Morrill | American Chemistry Council |
| Paul DeLeo | American Cleaning Institute |
| Guru Zingde | Amfine |
| Andrew Bayley | BASF |
| Luis Espada | BASF |
| Jay Ghosh | BASF |
| Al Wiedow | BASF |
| Robert Campbell | Great Lakes Solutions, a Chemtura Business |
| Mary Harscher | Great Lakes Solutions, a Chemtura Business |
| Marshall Moore | Great Lakes Solutions, a Chemtura Business |
| Steve Scherrer | Great Lakes Solutions, a Chemtura Business |
| Adrian Beard | Clariant |
| Tim Reilly | Clariant |
| Chris Bloom | The Dow Chemical Company |
| Christine Lukas | The Dow Chemical Company |
| Mike Mullins | The Dow Chemical Company |
| Scott Young | The Dow Chemical Company |
| Smadar Admon | ICL Industrial Products |
| Sergei Levchik | ICL Industrial Products |
| Joel Tenney | ICL Industrial Products |
| Andy Wang | ICL Industrial Products |
| Jay Bolus | MBDC, LLC |
| Paul Arch | NOVA Chemicals |
| Paul Kurtanich | NOVA Chemicals |
| International | |
| Stacy Kauk | Environment Canada |
| Kristina Rudnitski | Environment Canada |
| Peter Ross | Institute of Oceans Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
| NGOs | |
| Kathleen Curtis | Clean and Healthy New York |
| Arlene Blum | Green Science Policy Institute |
| Alex Madonik | Green Science Policy Institute |
| Ken Kraus | International Association of Fire Chiefs |
| Brian Penttila | Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center |
| Recyclers | |
| David Wagger | Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. |
| Standards Organizations | |
| Eric Rosenblum | UL Environment |
| State and Local Governments | |
| Robert Brushia | California DTSC |
| Robert Russo | California Environmental Protection Agency |
| Andrea Lani | Maine Department of Environmental Protection |
| Alister Innes | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency |
| Alex Stone | Washington State Department of Ecology |
| Textile Industry | |
| Janan Rabiah | Association for Contract Textiles |
| John Gant | Glen Raven, Inc. |
| U.S. Federal Government | |
| Shannon Cuniff | Department of Defense |
| Linda S. Birnbaum | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
| June K. Dunnick | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
| David Szabo | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
| Rick Davis | National Institute of Standards and Technology |
| Treye Thomas | United States Consumer Product Safety Commission |
| Doug Anderson | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Cal Baier-Anderson | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Clive Davies | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Greg Fritz | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Peter Gimlin | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Bradley Grams | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Christina Guthrie | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Alison Kinn | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Emma Lavoie | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Kristen Loughery | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Paul Matthai | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Loraine Passe | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Alyson Lorenz | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Sue Slotnick | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Laurie Solomon | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Libby Sommer | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Jordan Trecki | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Kelly Wedell | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| HBCD Partnership EPA Contacts | |
| Clive Davies | U.S. EPA, Design for the Environment |
| Emma Lavoie | U.S. EPA, Design for the Environment |
| Technical Consultant | |
| Laura Heine | Clean Production Action |
More information
If you would like more information, please contact saferchoice@epa.gov.