A Public Interest Guide to Toxic Flame Retardant Chemicals

IPEN has updated its guide to toxic flame retardant chemicals to reflect new developments since it was first released in June 2012. The guide is an introduction to the science and industry manipulation of toxic chemicals marketed as flame retardants. These toxic chemicals do not provide fire safety but are widely present in consumer products that release them into dust, polluting people and the environment. They are also present in the millions of tons of electronic waste that is dumped in developing countries each year. The guide can help raise public awareness about this harmful class of substances and stimulate action to reform how chemicals are produced, used, and substituted so that harms from toxic chemical exposure can ultimately be eliminated.