When I went to work at DSC/Alcatel USA in 1997, we had to meet GR-1089. Telcordia had/has a lot of immunity and ruggedness requirements.  Yes, we did flammability tests.    I've been in the Hinsdale Central Office too (I was looking at an EMI complaint at one of their subscribers)  ad got the "real story" from some folks who'd been there when they had their famous fire. Don't open a door to get hoses in until  it's cooled down enough that oxygen doesn't turn the whole bay into an inferno...

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/95/Illinois%20Bell%20Telephone%20Fire,%201988.pdf?sequence=2

Cortland Richmond
Ret. but "on-call" at Belcan

On 9/16/2019 19:00 PM, Richard Nute wrote:

Well, the obvious way to determine whether flame-retardants have reduced the incidence of death or injury is to stop using flame-retardants and compare before and after.  The problem, of course, is if we are wrong…

This is one argument that is often used to retain ALL requirements in safety standards.  However, in many cases scientific or engineering analysis can show (or not show) that a requirement contributes to the product’s safety.

I’m not aware of illness or injury due to any flame-retardant in normal operation of products, although there is plenty of evidence of illness and injury from the chemicals themselves and disposal of the products.

Rich

On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 2:32 PM Richard Nute <ri...@bendbroadband.com <mailto:ri...@bendbroadband.com>> wrote:

    
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-need-flame-retardants-in-electronics/

    “…there has never been any valid statistical demonstration that
    flame retardant chemicals of the types and concentrations used in
    consumer products have resulted in death or injury reduction,”
    says Vytenis Babrauskas
    
<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-furniture-flame-retardants-save-enough-lives-justify-environmental-damage/>…

    The article is more than 5 years old.  Nevertheless,
    thought-provoking.

    Enjoy!

    Rich

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