When less can really be more…

von Angela Austin

There has been a lot of discussion about the revised draft of the Californian TB 117 and the effective ­elimination of flame retardant additives from flexible foams used in upholstered furniture. In this issue we publish comments from the chemical industry’s perspective. However, in this instance less flame retardant means less – less escape time, less raw material cost, less chemical use – but also less safety for the consumer.

The flame retardant chemical industry is now feeling the heat, trying to produce products that are safe for consumers from all perspectives, but with a diminishing number of permitted products in their tool box.

As usual, crisis has become the father of invention (and the polyurethane industry is no stranger to this situation) – and an innovative UK company, Green Urethanes, has created a reactive FR polyol based on a liquid flame retardant blended with soy-based polyols which can be used to produce flexible slabstock that meets the original TB 117 open flame test – by using up to 400 % less additive.

Not only do the consumers get the benefit of few chemicals in their foam, but a bio-based product, too, which meets existing fire safety standards. In this case less is definitely more! The new type of foam has undergone initial fire testing and will have been launched at the High Point Market show in North Carolina by the time you read this.

I also hope that by the time you read this issue, we will all be feeling some heat – but of a solar nature – snow derailed my trip to JEC Europe in Paris, has cancelled a flight from Düsseldorf and no doubt caused many of you a lot of travel chaos during the first part of this year. So I wish you all a warmer ­second quarter of the year with less snow and ice and more UV.

Angela Austin