Increasing flame retardant production and contamination problems in China

As described below there are Increasing flame retardant production and contamination problems in China:
1) expanded flame retardant production and marketing in China
2) impact of e-waste disposal sites in China

1) As the European Union and the United States are reducing their use of halogenated flame retardant chemicals due to toxicity concerns, the major producers of brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, Chemtura, Albemarle, and Israel Chemicals Ltd are turning to China for manufacturing and sales.

For example, Chemtura recently moved its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai and has opened a new Application Development Center in Nanjing. In an interview ( www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100524005952/en), Li Meng, Chairman of Chemtura’s Asia Business Council, stated that Chemtura new facility will drive growth throughout the Asia/Pacific region”.

Check out http://www.flameexpo.com/en/ to learn about huge annual expos in Shanghai:
"For the four previous International flame-retarding exhibitions hold successfully, it attracted nearly four million professional personages to visit ....to present unprecedented pomp. This exhibition exhibits flame retardant, flame-retarding material, flame-retarding textile.... and and latest development trend of international flame-retarding industry."

2) Flame retardant products produced in China and used in the U.S. and the EU can return to China as e-waste. The air, soil, and water as well as body fluids of humans and animals in China’s e-waste disposal regions contain some of the highest levels of halogenated flame retardants and their combustion products in the world. Here are a couple studies:

Zhao et al. ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20053418) measured PBDE and PCB levels in residents of two e-waste recycling sites in China’s Zhejiang Province found the highest body burdens ever reported.

Zhang et al. conducted a study ( http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es902883a) of pregnant women from e-waste sites in South China suggesting that e-waste recycling not only contributes to high body burdens of PBDEs, PCDDFs, and PCBs but also affects thyroid hormone homeostasis in humans.

3. From 2005 to 2008 the uses of BFrs has nearly doubled in Asia from 139,000 to 246, 000 metric tons and increased globally from 311,000 to 410, 000 metric tons as in the graph below from Fink U, Hajduk F, Wei Y, Mori H. (2008); Flame retardants. SRI Consulting, Specialty Chemicals

Some possible explanations for the big increase in Asia
1. All the furniture and baby products imported from China to the all of North America do meet California TB117 and are usually treated with halogenated flame retardants
2. The increase in energy efficient building where insulation materials such as polystyrene and polyurethane are usually treated with these chemicals

According to C&E News, Albermarle's profits rose 377% in 2009 compared to 2008:
> "Earnings were powered by an increase in the sales of brominated flame retardants.
> Albermarle saw significant rise in quarterly earnings from to $62 million from $13 million in 2008. Their annual sales were $558 million