Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Chemosphere. 2024 Jan;347:140638. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140638. Epub 2023 Nov 17.
Flame retardants (FRs) are a major group of chemicals used to protect against fast developing fires and comply with fire regulations. Many of them have a negative impact on the environment and human health. Some have been phased out, but the vast majority remain on the market including a substantial number of harmful ones. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) presented a strategy to phase out harmful flame retardants, based on a group approach. While this approach will help to finally overcome the loop of banning individual chemicals, which are then replaced by similar ones, which need to be banned again, the proposed strategy also contains several flaws, which may inadvertently weaken the strategy. A stronger grouping system is discussed and proposed, in which additional criteria for the evaluation of FRs as groups are included, e.g., more attention for toxic effects, mobility, recyclability and waste production. This discussion paper is intended to contribute to a sustainable approach as proposed in the European Chemicals Sustainability Strategy. It should also help create a truly circular economy.
阻燃剂（FRs）是一类用于防止火势迅速蔓延并符合消防法规的主要化学品。其中许多物质对环境和人类健康有负面影响。一些阻燃剂已经被淘汰，但绝大多数仍在市场上，包括大量有害阻燃剂。欧洲化学品管理局（ECHA）提出了一项基于分组方法逐步淘汰有害阻燃剂的战略。虽然这种方法将有助于最终克服逐个禁止化学品的循环，这些化学品随后被类似的需要再次禁止的化学品所取代，但所提出的战略也存在几个缺陷，这可能会无意中削弱该战略。本文讨论并提出了一个更强大的分组系统，其中包括对 FRs 作为组进行评估的额外标准，例如，更多地关注毒性、迁移性、可回收性和废物产生。本文旨在为欧洲化学品可持续性战略中提出的可持续方法做出贡献。它还应该有助于创建真正的循环经济。
