Flame-Retardant Makers Regroup

The three major U.S. firms that make flame retardants—Albemarle, Chemtura, and ICL Industrial Products—have abandoned the advocacy group Citizens for Fire Safety. Instead, they are embracing the North American Flame Retardant Alliance (NAFRA), an organization under the auspices of the American Chemistry Council, the large chemical industry trade group of which the firms are members. “We have decided that our message about public policy and fire safety is best served by managing all of our state and federal advocacy” through NAFRA, the firms say. The three companies weathered bad publicity after a Chicago Tribune series on flame-retardant chemicals, published this spring, charged that Citizens for Fire Safety hid its industrial sponsors and provided false or misleading information about flame-retardant chemicals or helped conceal safety and efficacy information. The three firms denounce the Tribune series as misleading and factually wrong. Through their association with NAFRA, the firms say they will conduct new research on the safety and efficacy of flame-retardant chemicals and focus on “educating policymakers and stakeholders.”