Bromine group fires back at Greenpeace over BFRs

According to an article in the Design News sister publication, Electronics Weekly, the
Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF) is questioning Greenpeace’s comments on the use of brominated flame retardants (BFR) in electronic products. Greenpeace has been targeting electronics manufacturers that use BFRs for fire prevention in their products, including Apple and Microsoft. The BSEF counter-claims that this targeting is irresponsible because the BFRs reduce fire danger from overheating.

 The BSEF released a statement noting that the substances Greenpeace seeks to eliminate are all approved for use and provide critical performance and safety functions in a wide range of electronic products. In its statement BSEF notes that in 2005, Microsoft was forced to recall 14.1 million power chords for its Xbox game console because they were though to be a fire hazard. BFRs are used to solve this potential problem.