Flame retardant market statistics

 Flame retardants can either be added to materials (incorporated in the manufacture for example of structural plastics, foams, textile fibres … or impregnated into timber, textile yarns …) or can be added as protective coatings.

They thus need to offer not only specific fire protection properties, but also technical properties compatible with the material in which they are used (maintain strength, flexibility, electrical resistance …).

In response to this wide variety of requirements, manufacturers and specialist formulators offer an immense range of different flame retardant products, based on a number of very different types of chemicals. In many cases, several different types of flame retardants are combined to achieve optimal material performance and product safety (synergy). The main different chemical families of flame retardants are : inorganic chemicals (including antimony, aluminium and tin compounds), bromine and chlorine based FRs, phosphorus based FRs, nitrogen (melamine) based FRs.

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