FLAME RETARDANTS | ADDITIVES
Hot topic: focus on flame retardants
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Flame retardant and synergistic additives aim to provide fire protection and environmental safety, while addressing supply chain challenges. Jennifer Markarian reports
Formulating flame-retardant (FR) thermoplastic compounds is a complex task of balancing perfor- mance and regulatory requirements, made even more challenging in the past year by supply-chain disruptions. In particular, antimony trioxide (ATO), which is used as a synergist in many brominated FR formula- tions, experienced extremely high prices due to shortages that resulted from China’s export ban on antimony as well as high demand for antimony from markets such as solar, said experts at AMI’s Fire Retardants in Plastics North America (Pittsburgh, April 2025). While some capacity for mining and refining is being built outside of China and may eventually bring the market back in balance, the high prices are driving substitution of ATO in FR formulations. Regulatory scrutiny of flame retardants is continu-
ing. One concern reported by the European Chemi- cal Agency (ECHA) is that non-polymeric additive aromatic brominated flame retardants (ABFRs) that have not been REACH registered have been detected in the environment at high concentrations, leading ECHA to point to issues with compliance and
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with chemicals in articles imported into the EU. Alternatives should also be carefully evaluated. FR industry organisation Pinfa said: “ECHA identified a number of phosphorus-based FR alternatives with no regulatory or hazard issues. However, they also note that some organophos- phorus FRs may have hazardous chemical proper- ties, leach out of products into the environment, be found in the environment at higher concentrations than ABFRs, and may require different technologies to identify and separate in waste treatment. Further investigation into organophosphorus FRs is thus needed to ensure that there is not regrettable substitution.” Substitution of older FR chemistries with chemistries that have better environmental or human health profiles has already occurred and is ongoing, as new chemistries are developed and as control of chemicals becomes more stringent. Any formulation must, of course, serve the primary purpose of meeting the standards, codes and regulations for fire resistance and smoke suppres- sion in the intended application area.
� December 2025 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 13
Main image: One growing area for flame-retardant thermoplastics is in data centres and high-speed telecom infrastructure applications
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