Building insulation flame retardant to get global ban

Flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) should be banned globally under the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), according to an official technical review committee.

At a meeting in Geneva in late October the POPs review committee agreed to recommend parties add HBCD to annex A of the convention when it meets in Geneva in May 2013.

But it said use in building insulation foam should be exempted from the ban for five years. This accounts for almost all current uses.