Jul. 15 – Canada: Environment Canada places partial ban on flame retardant

From the Globe and Mail:

Environment Canada says a flame retardant known as deca is so dangerous that it is banning companies from manufacturing the compound, but it will continue to allow the chemical to be freely imported and used in such consumer products as television sets and car upholstery.

The unusual split decision – to allow a material into Canada but ban it from being made here – was published in regulations earlier this week, and reflects the intense pressure on Ottawa over the controversial chemical.

Although deca is not actually made in Canada, the chemical’s foreign producers lobbied the government against the manufacturing ban – the first in the world – because the action might influence other governments. Car companies in Canada, meanwhile, lobbied to have continued access to deca to help them meet North American fire-safety standards for automobile interiors.

Deca is part of a family of chemicals known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, that are raising alarm among biologists because amounts are rising rapidly in wildlife.

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