Non-toxic flame retardants

Development of safe alternatives

2013-07-23

(Press-News.org) Synthetic materials made from organic polymers usually burn very well due to their high carbon content; when turned into foams, they ignite even more easily -- and, depending on their chemical compositions, they produce toxic gases such as hydrogen cyanide or carbon monoxide. For this reason, polyurethane foams and other similar products have to be treated with flame retardants. These foam materials are widely used in upholstered furniture and mattresses, as insulation and packaging materials and as expanding spray foams.

Conventional halogenated flame retardants such as tri(chloropropyl) phosphate (TCPP) or some polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are suspected of being harmful to health and the environment: a number of these substances are extremely persistent and accumulate in the environment, have hormone-like effects and are even thought to be carcinogenic. Non-harmful replacements are therefore called for. These are exactly what Empa researchers have developed in conjunction with Swiss company FoamPartner within the scope of a project sponsored by the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI).

Healthier, more environmentally friendly and with no additional cost

The novel flame retardants are organic phosphorus-containing compounds, so-called phosphoramidates. The Empa researchers synthesised several of these substances (which differ from each other in terms of the type of amine substituents attached to the phosphorus) and added them to the polyurethane foam in increasing concentrations. First results indicate that the flame retardants did not have a negative effect on the foam manufacturing process. As a result, conventional agents that are harmful to health may soon be a thing of the past. The research results have recently been accepted by the professional journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research and authorised for publication.

INFORMATION:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A ginkgo biloba extract promotes proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells

2013-07-23

Neural stem cells proliferate in the subventricular zone and hippocampal dentate gyrus of adult mammals. However, the number of endogenous neural stem cells is insufficient to prevent cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries such as vascular dementia, so it is important to stimulate endogenous neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation. The ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 effectively and safely treats memory loss and cognitive impairments in patients with senile dementia. Prof. Yuliang Wang and team from Weifang Medical University observed the effects of EGb761 on proliferation ...

Cannabis constituent has no effect on MS progression, study shows

2013-07-23

The first large non-commercial clinical study to investigate whether the main active constituent of cannabis (tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) is effective in slowing the course of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), shows that there is no evidence to suggest this; although benefits were noted for those at the lower end of the disability scale. The study is published in The Lancet Neurology. The CUPID (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) study was carried out by researchers from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry. The ...

A new player in brain disease and stroke

2013-07-23

In degenerative brain diseases and after stroke, nerve cells die while their support cells activate the brain's immune system to cause further damage. Now Jonathan Gilthorpe, Adrian Pini and Andrew Lumsden at the MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King's College London, have found that a single protein, histone H1, causes these distinct outcomes. The research passed peer review within a week of being published in F1000Research, where Jan-Marino Ramirez, of the University of Washington, called the work "a very important contribution to our understanding of neurodegenerative ...

6 months of computing time generates detailed portrait of cloth behavior

2013-07-23

PITTSBURGH—It would be impossible to compute all of the ways a piece of cloth might shift, fold and drape over a moving human figure. But after six months of computation, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, Berkeley, are pretty sure they've simulated almost every important configuration of that cloth. "I believe our approach generates the most beautiful and realistic cloth of any real-time technique," said Adrien Treuille, associate professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon. To create this cloth database, ...

Controlling genes with light

2013-07-23

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Although human cells have an estimated 20,000 genes, only a fraction of those are turned on at any given time, depending on the cell's needs — which can change by the minute or hour. To find out what those genes are doing, researchers need tools that can manipulate their status on similarly short timescales. That is now possible, thanks to a new technology developed at MIT and the Broad Institute that can rapidly start or halt the expression of any gene of interest simply by shining light on the cells. The work is based on a technique known as optogenetics, ...

Team led by University of Leicester sets new record for cosmic X-ray sightings

2013-07-23

Scientists led by the University of Leicester have set a new record for cosmic X-ray sources ever sighted – creating an unprecedented cosmic X-ray catalogue that will provide a valuable resource allowing astronomers to explore the extreme Universe. The XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre, led by a team from the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy, used the University's 'ALICE' supercomputer to help them produce a new X-ray catalogue, dubbed "3XMM". This new catalogue contains over half a million X-ray source detections, representing a 50% increase ...

Brain picks out salient sounds from background noise by tracking frequency and time, study finds

2013-07-23

New research reveals how our brains are able to pick out important sounds from the noisy world around us. The findings, published online today in the journal eLife, could lead to new diagnostic tests for hearing disorders. Our ears can effortlessly pick out the sounds we need to hear from a noisy environment, for example hearing our mobile phone ring tone in the middle of the Notting Hill Carnival, but how our brains process this information -- the so-called 'cocktail party problem' -- has been a longstanding research question in hearing science. Researchers have previously ...

Between B cells and T cells

2013-07-23

Mature cells develop through a number of immature stages. During this process, they must remember the specialization they are committed to. For immune system B cells, Rudolf Grosschedl of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics and his team have discovered that the transcription factor EBF1 is crucial for B cells to remember who they are. When the researchers switched off the transcription factor, the cells lost their previous identity and developed into T cells. Unlike most other cell types, B cells have a characteristic footprint in their genetic makeup ...

Researchers develop new approach for studying deadly brain cancer

2013-07-23

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Human glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most common, aggressive and deadly forms of brain cancer, is notoriously difficult to study. Scientists have traditionally studied cancer cells in petri dishes, which have none of the properties of the brain tissues in which these cancers grow, or in expensive animal models. Now a team of engineers has developed a three-dimensional hydrogel that more closely mimics conditions in the brain. In a paper in the journal Biomaterials, the researchers describe the new material and their approach, which allows them to ...

Study: No link between mercury exposure and autism-like behaviors

2013-07-23

The potential impact of exposure to low levels of mercury on the developing brain – specifically by women consuming fish during pregnancy – has long been the source of concern and some have argued that the chemical may be responsible for behavioral disorders such as autism. However, a new study that draws upon more than 30 years of research in the Republic of Seychelles reports that there is no association between pre-natal mercury exposure and autism-like behaviors. "This study shows no evidence of a correlation between low level mercury exposure and autism spectrum-like ...

Non-toxic flame retardants

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: