News
October 26, 2023
Call for fire safety in EU buildings directive
Associations say fire safety, especially for new energy systems, should be better integrated into the EU EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive).
October 26, 2023
UK consults on Furniture Fire Regulations
Public consultation on recast of UK’s 1988 Furniture Fire Safety Regulations open to 24th October 2023. The consultation includes a draft regulatory text “to illustrate the approach”.
October 26, 2023
pinfa-NA explainer video series – n°4
4th educational video on passive fire safety shows success of residential building fire risk mitigation.
October 26, 2023
Tests show fire danger of materials in buses
Bus seat, floor and interior trim materials as used in buses and coaches were tested for fire behaviour and smoke emission, concluding that they “lead to very limited times for escape and rescue in case of fire in a bus cabin”.
October 26, 2023
EuroNews on battery fire risks
Are we prepared to tackle the fire risks of batteries? Calls for action and initiatives on electric vehicle and battery fire safety
October 26, 2023
Concerns about battery storage fire safety
New York launches taskforce to investigate energy storage fire risks after solar farm fire. Rotterdam puts moratorium on new facilities.
October 26, 2023
Absence of fire standards for wind turbines
There are today over twenty wind turbine fires annually worldwide, causing up to 5 million € economic loss per fire.
October 26, 2023
Fire risks of lithium ion battery electrolytes
Lithium ion batteries use highly flammable liquid organic electrolytes. Solutions include flame retardants. Current state-of-the-art lithium ion batteries use LiPF6 as electrolyte salt in an organic carbonate solvent, a system which is flammable and thermally unstable.
October 26, 2023
PIN FR polypropylene (PP) for fire safety
Sirmax (US) offers PP compounds to UL 94 V-0 (0.8 mm) for EV, consumer & industry applications where fire safety is essential.
October 26, 2023
PIN FR cables show lower smoke toxicity
Tests on 89 different cables analysed how different cable structures and materials influence behaviour, including sheath materials, bedding, number and configuration of conductors, different conductor metals.
October 26, 2023
PIN FR cables prevent fire spread
Tests with full scale table trays show halogenated cables spread fire whereas PIN flame retardant cable do not.
October 26, 2023
Intense fire resistant PIN polyamide for EVs
Ascend Performance Materials’ PIN FR PA66 resistant to 1100°C flame for 15 minutes for electric vehicle battery safety.
October 26, 2023
PIN FRs for fire safety of recycled textiles
Insulation panels produced from of end-of-life textiles must be fire safety treated for safe use in buildings.
October 26, 2023
“Substitute” brominated flame retardants (BFRs) found in US breast milk.
Milk from 50 mothers in or around Seattle was analysed for 66 BFRs: 37 PBDES or metabolites (a class of BFRs which has been largely phased out), 8 bromophenols and 8 other substitute BFRs.
October 26, 2023
Possible release of brominated FRs from microplastics.
Simulations using synthetic sweat and sebum and microplastics (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) containing PBDEs or HBCD suggested that 1 – 2% of the brominated FR could be dermally bioaccessible.
October 26, 2023
Review of toxicity of organo-phosphorus (OPFRs) and currently used halogenated FRs (HFRs) and of their metabolites.
69 studies were analysed , covering four alkyl OPFRs, five aryl OPFRs and fifteen chlorinated or brominated FRs.
October 26, 2023
PBDE brominated FRs correlated to oxidative stress markers
Data for 8028 persons from the NHANES cohort (US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) were analysed for correlations between serum PBDE (nine PBDEs, tri- to deca-BDE) and metabolic indicators of oxidative stress (bilirubin, CGT).
October 26, 2023
Prenatal organophosphate ester metabolite (OPEm) exposure and preschool cognitive processes
Levels of four OPEms (list below) in one sample of 340 mothers’ urine at 17 weeks pregnancy were compared to EF (Executive Function = attention span, vocabulary, assertiveness) of offspring 6 – 36 months.
September 14, 2023
Public consultation on WEEE Directive
Questionnaire to evaluate EU WEEE Directive effectiveness, impacts, links to other EU legislation and standards.
September 14, 2023
Automobile expert on EV developments
Alan Amici, Center for Automotive Research (CAR), will discuss production forecasts and R&D needs for electric vehicles.
September 14, 2023
House burn reaches ¾ million viewers
TV New Zealand with fire services broadcast full-scale furnished house burn trial showing how a scooter battery fire becomes unsurvivable after three minutes.
September 14, 2023
Sweden E&E “ecotax” update
Updated Swedish ecotax covers all halogenated and phosphorus FRs with a 50% reduction for non-halogenated.
September 14, 2023
Carcinogenicity of chlorinated FR TCPP
US National Toxicology Programme concludes evidence of carcinogenic activity of the halogenated FR TCPP = Tris(chloropropyl) phosphate.
September 14, 2023
Joint letter for EU holistic fire safety
18 industry, technical and science organisations call for structural coordination of EU initiatives on fire safety of buildings in a letter to the European Commission led by the European Sire Safety Alliance and signed by pinfa.