Scientific Opinion
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:
- Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) – thermal insulation in the building industry
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – plastics, textiles, electronic castings, circuitry
- 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 have been marketed as technical mixtures under different commercial brands. In the European Union 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.
Latest
EFSA is updating its scientific opinions on BFRs in food, taking into account new occurrence data and scientific information. The work is scheduled for completion by 2025.
EFSA experts are assessing the risks raised by each BFR class present in food individually, after which they will consider whether employing a mixture approach for all the assessed BFR classes is appropriate.
European and national decision-makers use EFSA’s scientific advice, together with other considerations, to decide on possible measures to reduce consumer exposure to contaminants in food. Such measures might include, for example, the setting of maximum levels in food.
The scientific opinions on the risks to human health related to the presence of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and its derivatives, and brominated phenols and their derivatives were updated between 2021 and 2024 (see Milestones).
As a next step, experts will assess a set of emerging and novel BFRs in food.
Currently, there are restrictions in place for the production, sale and use of products containing PBDEs. In March 2023, ECHA released its regulatory strategy for flame retardants, emphasising the need to minimise the exposure to aromatic brominated flame retardants and identifying them as candidates for EU-wide restriction.
Milestones
2024
October
EFSA publishes its scientific opinion on the risks to human health related to brominated phenols and their derivatives. Due to a lack of data, the risk assessment focuses on 2,4,6-tribromophenol (2,4,6-TBP). Experts conclude that current dietary exposure to 2,4,6-TBP does not pose a health concern for adults or children. However, a risk assessment for breastfed and formula-fed infants could not be conducted due to insufficient data.
July
EFSA publishes its scientific opinion on the risks to human health related to tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and its derivatives. Experts conclude that current dietary exposure does not pose a health concern for any age group.
January
EFSA publishes its updated opinion on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in food. Experts conclude that current dietary exposure to PBDEs in the European population is likely to pose a health concern. The most significant effects relate to the reproductive and nervous systems.
2021
March
EFSA publishes a scientific opinion on the risks to human health related to the presence of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) in food. Experts conclude that current dietary exposure to HBCDDs across European countries does not pose a health concern. The only exception is breastfed infants consuming breast milk in high amounts and with high levels of HBCDDs. In this case EFSA concludes that the exposure may raise a health concern, noting that more data on the levels of HBCDDs in human milk are needed to enable a more robust exposure assessment.
Due to the lack of occurrence data and toxicity studies, the risk assessment focuses on 2,4,6-tribromophenol (2,4,6-TBP). It is unlikely that current dietary exposure to 2,4,6-TBP in the EU would raise a health concern. Also, exposure of infants to 2,4,6-TBP via breast feeding is unlikely to raise a health concern. Due to lack of data a risk assessment of the other brominated phenols or their derivatives was not possible.
2010-2012
Between October 2010 and October 2012, EFSA’s Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) completed a series of six scientific opinions on the main groups of BFRs and potential risks to public health from their presence in food.
2006
February
EFSA identifies some compounds to be monitored in food and feed, based on knowledge on the production volumes, the occurrence of each chemical compound in food and feed, their persistence in the environment and their toxicity. This follows a request from the European Commission to determine the chemical compounds within the groups of BFRs that may be a concern for human and/or animal health to monitor their possible presence in food and feed.
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. 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 to protect health and the environment.
In particular, in 2003 an EU directive prohibited the placing on the market of two commercial mixtures of PBDEs, known as PentaBDE and OctaBDE, as well as their use in preparations if they had more than 0.1% of these substances by weight.
Since 2006 new electrical and electronic equipment is not allowed to contain any amount of PBBs and PBDEs.
In July 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) banned a third PBDE mixture, DecaBDE, originally exempted from the restrictions.
In 2014, the EU recommended that Member States monitor the presence of BFRs in food.