A 27 page paper by Angela Logomasini, for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, USA, indicates that banning halogen flame retardants could result in “unnecessary and preventable loss of life from fires”.
This is presented as a response to a petition by environmental NGOs, currently under consideration by the US federal CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), to ban all halogenated FRs in domestic furniture, mattresses and electronics. The paper states that “The risks associated with traces of flame retardants do not warrant bans” and that “There is little evidence that any trace synthetic chemicals found in consumer products have a significant impact on human health”. Instead of regulation, the paper proposes “A voluntary, flexible market-based system (to) allow standard-setting organizations and furniture manufactures to adjust standards as knowledge evolves” because “government regulators lack the necessary information and ability to respond, they serve political interests often at the expensive of science and even public safety”
“Fanning the flames. How banning flame retardant chemicals puts consumers at risk”, Angela Logomasini, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), USA, 23rd March 2016 https://cei.org/content/fanning-flames CEI is a US think-tank dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government known for positions denying anthropogenic climate change.