Apple, Google, and ChemFORWARD join forces to drive support for safer flame retardants in the Electronics Sector
ChemFORWARD, in collaboration with Apple and Google, is pleased to announce the availability of a comprehensive set of chemical hazard assessments for phosphorus-based and other non-halogenated flame retardants used in electronics. The goal of this work is to help companies move away from flame retardants with known health and environmental concerns towards those that are well characterized and verified to be safer.
Apple and Google are working with their suppliers and the innovative NGO ChemFORWARD to create transparency and a chemical hazard knowledge database that will enable them to select safer alternatives to incorporate into their supply chain for making their material selection and use decisions. This effort is creating an extensive understanding of flame retardants used in electronics, and differentiating hazardous flame retardants from those that can be demonstrated to be safer by an authoritative and scientifically defensible chemical hazard assessment framework and independently peer-reviewed and verified by board-certified toxicologists.
The Need For Proactive Chemical Hazard Assessment - Shared Data Fuels Industry Transformation
Work on safer chemistry is resource-intensive, from gathering information, to assessing the data, to identifying safer alternatives. Suppliers often don’t have the capacity to subject their materials and processes to the level of due diligence required to rigorously assess their safety.
At the same time, consumer concern and the number of significant regulations of chemicals in electrical and electronic products are increasing across the globe at a rapid pace. Leadership companies are recognizing that more needs to be done beyond compliance to existing chemical regulations or avoidance of substances on restricted-from-use lists to protect workers, customers, and the environment, and to avoid costly disruption to the supply chain. Sole reliance on regulatory compliance or on list-based chemical management can lead to problematic material selection and use decisions because those 'negative' lists neither provide a complete understanding of a chemical's full hazard profile nor do they tell you what's safer and appropriate for use.
From safer chemistry to worker safety, these issues are most effectively addressed with a multi-stakeholder approach to create systemic change and collective impact. For this reason, ChemFORWARD was created as a hub for safer chemistry, the sharing of safer alternatives, and the verification and promotion of materials that meet rigorous scientific evaluation.
Apple, Google, and ChemFORWARD created a comprehensive set of chemical hazard assessments for flame retardants used in electronics. To date, more than 20 flame retardants have been fully assessed and are available to subscribers. Building on the current dataset, research is currently underway to inventory flame retardants actively used in electronics. Once compiled, the list will be screened against the ChemFORWARD dataset and where data gaps exist, new chemical hazard assessments will be commissioned to further populate and expand the ChemFORWARD flame retardant repository. The goal is to compile the world’s largest single repository of flame retardants with comprehensive chemical hazard assessments. This is the first time that this data has been brought together in a comprehensive way and is serving as a case study for integrating sustainable chemistry into product design.
Separate Efforts, Collective Impact
In 2021, ChemFORWARD teamed with Google and Apple, and convened partners in the electronics sector to examine the value of a repository of verified chemical hazard assessments to support material selection and use decisions, avoid regrettable substitutions, stay ahead of regulation, inform consumers and NGOs, guide policy development, and lead the industry to the safe management and use of flame retardants.
Today, ChemFORWARD’s electronics chemical optimization initiative is fundamentally changing the way that chemical hazard data is created, maintained, distributed, consumed, and financed. Individual partners work on the chemical and material classes that are most important to their business drivers and in doing so are contributing to the creation of a globally harmonized repository of chemical hazard assessments and safer alternatives to enable systems transformation. Current topics include flame retardants, cleaners and degreasers, plasticizers, and solvents. All electronics industry, OEMs and suppliers are welcome and encouraged to participate and help accelerate the adoption of safer chemistry in the supply chain.
For more information please contact ChemFORWARD at info@chemforward.org or visit www.chemforward.org.
