It is essential that you gain a thorough understanding of the uses of flame retardants, how they are used, and why they are important to your day-to-day life. The uses of flame retardants are extremely broad and diverse. They can be used in a number of different industries and in several different ways. These uses of flame retardants are used to help make everyday items safer for the general public. The amount of lives that have been saved from these uses of flame retardants can never really be measured.
Flame retardants are chemical compounds added to materials to reduce their flammability. They are incorporated into a wide range of products including furnishing, textiles, electronics, and building materials. Flame retardants improve fire safety by reducing the ignition temperature of the material they are added to and increasing the time it takes for a fire to spread. You can contact ACS Limited for more information.
When tested under laboratory conditions flame retardants have proven effective at preventing or slowing the spread of flames in a variety of common household items such as upholstered furniture, carpeting, mattresses and child car seats. However, some flame retardants have been linked to numerous health problems in humans and animals. These chemicals can leach from the materials into which they are incorporated into our homes and workplaces and take years before their effects become evident. In addition, certain flame retardants used in electronic equipment have been found to emit toxic fumes when burning or even when simply exposed to heat.
The common uses of Flame retardants include:
1. Preventing a fire from spreading.
2. Staying in place as fire proofing elements.
3. As flame retardants, they are added to building materials such as adhesives, textiles and plastics in order to slow the spread of flames and reduce the amount of heat released from a fire and thus prevent it from spreading to other objects or places.
4. Flame retardant products can be used as flame retardant additives in a wide range of products including furniture, carpets, rugs, insulation materials, foam cushions and seat covers etc.
Organohalogen Flame Retardants
Organohalogens are highly toxic flame retardants that contain bromine or chlorine atoms. They were used extensively from the 1940s through the 1970s. First, they were used in textiles, especially foam cushions, such as those found on airplanes, then later in plastic furniture and car interiors. Organohalogens have been linked to reproductive problems, developmental problems in children, and behavioral problems in children. Due to these harmful effects and concerns about their persistence in the environment, production of organohalogen flame retardants was banned in 2004 by the European Union and 2005 by the U.S., with some exceptions for specific uses (e.g., airplane seats).
Flame retardants are added to many products in order to provide protection from fire. Flame retardants are used in:
- Aircraft Cargo Restrain Systems
- Carpet Underlayments and Backings
- Carpet and Upholstered Furniture
- Electrical, Electronic and Communication Products
- Floor Coverings
- Furniture Components
- Outerwear Clothing
- Polyurethane Foam Products
- Protective Clothing (Firefighters)
- Protective Fabrics (Military)
- Protective Sleeves, Tubes and Hoses
- Decorative Laminates (Wallpaper)
