Fire Retardant Ignites Safety Debate
By Chaille Brindley
Date Posted: 4/24/2009
The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) has fired the latest shot in the wood vs. plastic pallet debate. This time, instead of focusing on fire safety, the key concern is toxicity.
Deca-bromine is the most common fire retardant used to treat plastic pallets, and is the chemical utilized by iGPS in its pallet pool. Researchers and scientists as well as environmental activists are raising concerns
about the impact of deca-bromine on human health.
In a CBS News report, the EPA’s senior toxicologist Linda Birbaum expressed concern about DECA’s long-termeffects on human health. She said it causes serious health effects in young animals, which
raises a major red flag.
Brominated flame retardants have been widely used over the last 30 years to treat upholstery, electronics and children’s products. You may even have trace amounts of these chemicals in your blood thanks to the widespread use of these fire retardants.
Some states are moving to ban the product for consumer goods. In 2007, Maine and Washington established bans on the chemical. Six other states, including California, are considering similar bans.
Despite these growing health concerns, the bromine industry is pushing for wider adoption citing the advantage to fire safety. Over recent years, the National Association of State Fire Marshals has become an advocate for the use of fire retardants claiming these products save lives.
The NWPCA is working hard to educate pallet companies and packaging users about the possible dangers involved with deca-bromine. This certainly appears to be an industry response to anti-wood claims being made by iGPS and others pushing the environmental and workplace friendly attributes of plastic pallets.
The NWPCA has made information about the toxicity issue available on its Web site at www.palletcentral.com.
iGPS contends its pallets are completely safe and has challenged NWPCA and CHEP, the operator of the largest wood pallet pool in North America, to an independent, side-by-side study of wood pallets and iGPS plastic pallets.
Bob Moore, president of iGPS said about NWPCA, “In their effort to defend antiquated, dangerous and flammable wood pallets, they scurrilously have attacked the fire-retardant in our pallets, Deca-bromine – one of the most effective, widely used and extensively tested fire retardants available.”
