Handbook of Flame Retardants contains an extensive evaluation of the existing literature, products and patents related to flame retardance. As a perfect complement to The Databook of Flame Retardants, this book explains the roles, selection, mechanisms of action, use in different polymers and products, and health and environmental issues of over 350 different products. Chapters highlight the fundamentals of material burning and the associated stages of heat, flame and smoke, properties and mechanisms, and preventive, delaying and extinguishing attributes of 27 chemical groups of flame retardants. Examples of synergistic and antagonistic actions of various additives are discussed next, along with testing methods. The book concludes with chapters providing guidance on optimal selection of flame retardants for various polymers and information on the toxicity of flame retardants and their effects on the environment. - Evaluates the existing literature, products and patents related to flame retardance - Covers the fundamentals of material burning and associated stages of heat, flame and smoke - Outlines and evaluates the properties of 27 chemical groups of flame retardants - Provides examples of synergistic and antagonistic actions of various additives - Looks at methods of testing flame retardants and quantifies their effect on products

Polymer Green Flame Retardants covers key issues regarding the response of polymers during fire, the mechanisms of their flame retardation, the regulations imposed on their use, and the health hazards arising from their combustion. Presenting the latest research developments, the book focuses in particular on nanocomposites, believed to be the most promising approach for producing physically superior materials with low flammability and ecological impact. The fire properties of nanocomposites of various matrixes and fillers are discussed, the toxicological characteristics of these materials are analyzed, addressing also their environmental sustainability. Edited by distinguished scientists, including an array of international industry and academia experts, this book will appeal to chemical, mechanical, environmental, material and process engineers, upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines, and generally to researchers developing commercially attractive and environmentally friendly fire-proof products. - Provides recent findings on the manufacture of environmentally sustainable flame retardant polymeric materials - Covers legislation and regulations concerning flame retarded polymeric material use - Includes tables containing the fire properties of the most common polymeric materials

This important book provides a comprehensive account of the advances that have occurred in fire science in relation to a broad range of materials. The manufacture of fire retardant materials is an active area of research, the understanding of which can improve safety as well as the marketability of a product.The first part of the book reviews the advances that have occurred in improving the fire retardancy of specific materials, ranging from developments in phosphorus and halogen-free flame retardants to the use of nanocomposites as novel flame retardant systems. Key environmental issues are also addressed. The second group of chapters examines fire testing issues and regulations. A final group of chapters addresses the application of fire retardant materials in such areas as composites, automotive materials, military fabrics and aviation materials.With its distinguished editors and array of international contributors, this book is an essential reference for producers, manufacturers, retailers and all those wishing to improve fire retardancy in materials. It is also suitable for researchers in industry or academia. - Reviews advances in improving the retardancy of materials - Addresses key environmental issues - Examines fire testing issues and regulations and the challenges involved

"This authoritative reference work will provide a comprehensive source of information for readers concerned with the highly diverse subject of fire retardance. The emphasis is on the burning behaviour and flame retarding properties of polymeric materials. It covers combustion, flame retardants, smoke and toxic products generally and goes on to concentrate on more material-specific aspects of combustion in relation to textiles, composites and bulk polymers. A wide range of fire retardant materials are covered including research in the new field of nanocomposites."--Knovel.

Ignition of upholstered furniture by small open flames from matches, cigarette lighters, and candles is one of the leading causes of residential-fire deaths in the United States. These fires accounted for about 16% of civilian fire deaths in 1996. On average, each year since 1990, about 90 deaths (primarily of children), 440 injuries, and property losses amounting to 50 million dollars have resulted from fires caused by the ignition of upholstered furniture by small open flames. Certain commercial seating products (such as aircraft and bus seats) are subject to flammability standards and sometimes incorporate FR-treated upholstery cover materials, but there is no federal-government requirement for residential upholstered furniture, and it is generally not treated with FR chemicals. It is estimated that less than 0.2% of all U.S. residential upholstery fabric is treated with flame-retardant (FR) chemicals. The Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 created the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as an independent federal regulatory agency whose mission is to protect the public from unreasonable risks of injury and death associated with consumer products. CPSC also administers the Flammable Fabrics Act, under which it regulates flammability hazards and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), which regulates hazardous substances including chemicals. In 1993, the National Association of State Fire Marshals petitioned CPSC to issue a performance-based flammability standard for upholstered furniture to reduce the risk of residential fires. The Commission granted that portion of the petition relating to small open flame ignition risks. In response to concerns regarding the safety of FR chemicals, Congress, in the fiscal year 1999 appropriations report for CPSC, requested that the National Research Council conduct an independent study of the health risks to consumers posed by exposure to FR chemicals that are likely to be used in residential upholstered furniture to meet a CPSC standard. The National Research Council assigned the project to the Committee on Toxicology (COT) of the Commission on Life Sciences' Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. COT convened the Subcommittee on Flame-Retardant Chemicals, which prepared this report. Subcommittee members were chosen for their recognized expertise in toxicology, pharmacology, epidemiology, chemistry, exposure assessment, risk assessment, and biostatistics. Toxicological Risks of Selected Flame-Retardant Chemicals is organized into 18 chapters and two appendices. Chapter 2 describes the risk assessment process used by the subcommittee in determining the risk associated with potential exposure to the various FR chemicals. Chapter 3 describes the method the subcommittee used to measure and estimate the intensity, frequency, extent, and duration of human exposure to FR chemicals. Chapters 4-19 provide the subcommittee's review and assessment of health risks posed by exposure to each of the 16 FR chemicals. Data gaps and research needs are provided at the end of these chapters.

This updated edition provides an overview of flame retardants that are in commercial use, were recently used, or are in development. The book is organized polymer-by-polymer and provides a guide to advantages, limitations, and patented and patent-free formulations, with insight into favorable and unfavorable combinations. The targeted readership is the plastics or textile finish compounder and the plastic additives R&D worker, as well as market development and sales. This edition contains, besides a compendium of current flame retardants, updated information relevant to performance testing, mode of action, and safety and regulatory aspects. Industrial or academic researchers will find useful a discussion of unsolved problems with possible new approaches. Both authors have extended, productive experience in both basic and applied research on a wide range of flame retardancy topics.

This review sets out to describe the types of flame retardants available for compounding into plastics materials, mechanisms of action and uses. This review provides a clear overview of the state-of-the-art of flame retardancy for plastics. It highlights the new developments and the potential problems with legislation, together with the benefits to end users of protection from fire hazards. This review is accompanied by around 400 abstracts from papers and books in the Rapra Polymer Library.