Chinese Manufacturers of XPS Boards ‘Under Fire’
Banned fluorinated blowing agents and highly toxic flame retardants found in Chinese imports.
Banned fluorinated blowing agents and highly toxic flame retardants found in Chinese imports.
Joe Webster, president of consulting firm , a long-time industry friend and well-known technical expert in plastics additives, alerted me to “Chinese Boards Fail Further Tests”, a recent news item that appeared in UK’s Builders Merchants Journal.
It appears that the investigation on imported XPS cored tilebacker boards began in March, when three global leading brands provided test information to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the chemicals incorporated in Chinese XPS boards. The brands are Germany’s Wedi (U.S. headquarters in Carol Stream, Ill.) and Jackoboard (sold in North America by Schluter Systems, Plattsburgh, N.Y.), and New Zealand’s Marmox (sold through distributors in U.S., Europe, and Australia).
That information showed that the imported boards contained fluorinated blowing agents (e.g., CFCs, HCFCs) banned in Europe and North America due to their harmful effects on the environment. Moreover, the tested boards also incorporated a highly toxic flame retardant at quantities also banned in Europe.
After extensive reporting of these test result, one Chinese manufacturer produced a copy of a test report that purportedly showed that their products were free from the banned chemicals.
But, Wedi, Jackoboard, and Marmox aimed to remove all doubts and submitted further samples of the imported boards to two leading independent European testing laboratories. The new results compounded the earlier findings that the imported XPS boards contained blowing agent gases which have been banned for fourteen years plus four times the permitted level of a toxic flame retardant.
Due to the sensitive and ongoing nature of this investigation, brand names of boards “under fire” have yet to be named.
Related Content
-
PHA Compound Molded into “World’s First” Biodegradable Bottle Closures
Beyond Plastic and partners have created a certified biodegradable PHA compound that can be injection molded into 38-mm closures in a sub 6-second cycle from a multicavity hot runner tool.
-
What to Look for in High-Speed Automation for Pipette Production
Automation is a must-have for molders of pipettes. Make sure your supplier provides assurances of throughput and output, manpower utilization, floor space consumption and payback period.
-
Multilayer Solutions to Challenges in Blow Molding with PCR
For extrusion blow molders, challenges of price and availability of postconsumer recycled resins can be addressed with a variety of multilayer technologies, which also offer solutions to issues with color, processability, mechanical properties and chemical migration in PCR materials.
