ABSTRACT
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) constitute an important group of fire-safety chemicals, with the ability to reduce the impact of fire on people, property, and the environment by allowing longer escape and response time. BFRs are effective in inhibiting fire ignition or slowing down the spread of flames. BFRs consist of diverse chemicals that differ in their physicochemical properties. Nearly 70 different types of BFRs are available but very few are used in large amounts throughout the world. Additive, reactive, and polymeric properties vary among different BFRs. As the production and use of highly flammable and synthetic polymers like ‘plastics’ has increased in recent times, demand for flame retardants (FRs) to be a part of plastics has also risen in the past two decades. The global market revenue of BFRs amounted to US$2.14 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach US$3.30 billion (with a hike in compound annual growth rate by 5.70%) by the year 2030. Emission and leaching of FRs from the parent plastics commonly occurs since FRs are not chemically bound to polymers. Although the use of FRs resulted in a 30% to 90% decrease in deaths and/or injuries due to fire accidents, concerns are rising about the serious effects of FRs on human health and the environment.
Since BFRs contain several detrimental properties such as persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport, and toxicity, they are properly classified as ‘persistent organic pollutants’ (POPs) and are the standout chemicals of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and the Stockholm Convention. Published studies suggest that long-term exposure to BFRs results in several adverse human health problems, like thyroid, reproductive, neurobehavioral, developmental, neurological, and endocrine disorders. In view of the environmental and health issues, research on BFRs has gained much attention globally in finding suitable alternatives. However, there is a dearth of detailed information on the environmental fate and toxicity of BFRs. The present chapter consequently seeks to address the following issues concerning BFRs – extent of environmental contamination, fate, toxicity, regulatory criteria, assessment, remediation, and challenges. We believe that these latest insights will have great importance in not only minimizing the environmental burden caused by BFRs, but also in finding suitable alternatives to them.
