Brominated Flame Retardants
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are mixtures of man-made chemicals that are added to a wide variety of products, including for industrial use, to make them less flammable. They are used commonly in plastics, textiles and electrical/electronic equipment.
There are five main classes of BFRs, listed here with their common uses:
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – plastics, textiles, electronic castings, circuitry
- Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) – thermal insulation in the building industry
- Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and other phenols – printed circuit boards, thermoplastics (mainly in TVs)
- Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) – consumer appliances, textiles, plastic foams
- Other brominated flame retardants.
These classes of BFRs have been marketed as technical mixtures under different commercial brands consisting of different chemical compounds within each class.
In the European Union (EU) the use of certain BFRs is banned or restricted; however, due to their persistence in the environment there are still concerns about the risks these chemicals pose to public health. BFR-treated products, whether in use or waste, ‘leach’ BFRs into the environment and contaminate the air, soil and water. These contaminants may then enter the food chain where they mainly occur in food of animal origin, such as fish, meat, milk and derived products.
EFSA's ongoing work and published scientific advice
EFSA's role
EFSA provides scientific advice and risk assessments on BFRs for EU risk managers to help them assess the need for regulatory measures as regards the safety of BFR-contaminated food. In particular, EFSA is required to:
- Evaluate the toxicity of BFRs for humans considering all relevant toxicological information available
- Carry out exposure assessments on the basis of occurrence data obtained in food monitoring activities, in particular, from EU Member States
- Consider the exposure of specific population groups (e.g. infants and children, people following specific diets, etc.) to BFRs through food and indicate the relative importance of other non-dietary sources
- Explore whether individual compounds can be used as markers for dietary exposure to BFRs
- Identify potential data gaps for the five groups of BFRs.
EU framework
The EU has adopted legislation to reduce or halt the sale and use of certain BFRs in order to protect health and the environment.
Directive 2003/11/EC, which amends Directive 76/769/EEC on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations, bans the sale of two commercial mixtures of PBDEs, known as PentaBDE and OctaBDE, in concentrations higher than 0.1% by mass.
From July 2006, under Directive 2002/95/EC, all new electrical and electronic equipment can no longer contain PBBs and PBDEs in any concentration. In July 2008, a third PBDE mixture, DecaBDE, originally exempted from the restrictions, was also banned by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
EFSA's activities
EFSA’s work in this field is carried out by the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM). The Panel has published advice on monitoring food and feed for the presence of BFRs and assesses the possible risk for human health related to the presence of BFRs in food.
In October 2010, the CONTAM Panel concluded that the risk to the European population from exposure to PBBs through food is of no concern. Since PBBs are no longer produced or used in Europe and taking into account low and declining environmental concentrations, the CONTAM Panel concluded that PBBs are a low priority for further research or monitoring efforts.
In May 2011, the Panel assessed the risk related to the presence of PBDEs in food, considering eight PBDEs of primary interest. Since relevant toxicity data were only available for four of them (BDE-47, -99, -153 and -209), the risk assessment was limited to these four, for which the CONTAM Panel calculated the margins of exposure (MOE). For BDE-99, the MOE indicate a potential health concern with respect to the current dietary exposure. This was notable for young children (aged 1-3 years old), although the presence of one food sample in the category ‘Food for infants and small children’ with a high concentration of BDE-99 could have led to overestimation of the exposure for this specific age group. For BDE-47, -153 and -209 the Panel concluded that current dietary exposure is unlikely to raise a health concern. As numerous products containing PBDEs are still in use, the Panel recommended that the surveillance of PBDEs should continue.
Glossary: Margin of Exposure
The Margin of Exposure (MOE) is a tool used by risk assessors to characterise the risk from exposure to carcinogenic and/or genotoxic substances in food or feed. In practice, an MOE is derived either for a substance i) where no toxic threshold for an adverse health effect has been defined, or ii) for which the limited data available do not allow a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) to be set.
The MOE is a ratio of two factors which assesses for a given population: the dose at which a small but measurable adverse effect is first observed and the level of exposure to the substance considered. The higher the MOE, the lower the potential health risk is for consumers.
In July 2011, in its third opinion on BFRs, the Panel concluded that current dietary exposure to HBCDDs in the EU does not raise a health concern. Furthermore, additional exposure, particularly of young children, to HBCDDs from house dust is unlikely to raise a health concern.
Main work in progress
Mandate for EFSA opinions on brominated flame retardants in food
- CONTAM Panel and its working groups
- Milestones:
- 22 September 2010 – adoption of opinion on Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs)
- 9 May 2011 – adoption of opinion on Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
- 5 July 2011 – adoption of opinion on Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs)
- 29 November 2011 – adoption of opinion on Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA)
- 21 March 2012 – adoption of opinion on Brominated phenols
- 31 May 2012 – deadline for opinion on Emerging and Novel BFRs
