“In a move aimed at protecting the country’s endangered whales, the Canadian government has announced it wants to place added restrictions on four flame retardants and three long-chain perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFASs).
It says it plans to propose changes to the country’s 2012 Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, which would come on top of amendments already made in 2016 to address the substances…
The amendments would potentially remove certain exemptions to existing restrictions on the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale and import of the brominated flame retardants HBCD and PBDEs and the oil and water repellents: perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS); perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); and perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCA).
The government also formally signalled in the notice that it will be amending the regulations to address two additional flame retardants – DP and DBDPE – once their final screening assessment comes through…
The Notice of Intent addressing all seven substances will be open for comment until November 12. A consultation document will follow…
PFOS, PFOA, and LC-PFCA are all long-chain PFASs that are already listed on Schedule 1, the country’s list of toxic substances. Current regulations bar their use in Canada with a few exceptions including: water-based inks, photo media coating or firefighting foams, as well as products in which the chemicals are ‘incidentally present’.
Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) was added to the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations in 2016. As a result since January 2017 its manufacture, sale, offer for sale or import has been prohibited. This includes expanded and extruded (EPS and XPS) foams containing HBCD used in building and construction applications, but does not extend to its use in other products.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are also used as flame retardants, though they have many other consumer uses, including as: carpet underlay, furniture foam, electrical and electronic equipment and building materials. They were initially regulated under 2008’s Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers Regulations, which were repealed when the substances were added to the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations in 2016.
That move expanded the scope of the previous prohibition to cover all PBDEs (penta-, octa- and decaBDE) unless present in a manufactured article. Canada has also taken steps to monitor human exposure to the substance, as well as concentrations in the environment.”