Flame retardants are an important element of fire prevention. They are designed to restrict the spread of flames to specific materials or to reduce the extent of flames. Flame retardants are chemicals that are incorporated in products such as textiles, construction materials, consumer electronics, and electrical devices to delay combustion, avoid or reduce ignition, and/or interfere with the production of smoke or toxic gases. With the rapid progression of technology, flame retardants have emerged as an imperative determinant to ensure the conformation of common goods to fire safety standards. If you need premium-quality flame-retardant solutions, you can find ICL Industrial products, which are the best around. Read on to learn more about this.
Flame Retardants: What Are They?
Flame retardants are chemicals that are sprayed on or added to potentially flammable materials. They are made to help keep flammable materials from catching on fire. The chemical compounds used in these products help stop, slow down, or delay the combustion process. These chemical compounds contain bromine, chlorine, phosphorous, or nitrogen. Flame retardants are not recent — they have been around for centuries and are used in indoor and outdoor operations.
Why Are Flame Retardants Important?
Fire can cause damage and losses, but that is surely not the only advantage of flame retardants. By slowing down or preventing the combustion, flame retardants give people time to escape a building in case there’s a fire outbreak. With good flame retardant products, you can have extra time, which is often enough to convert what may have resulted in a major disaster into an essentially minor incident. At the same time, they help ensure less economic losses from fire. In other words, the level of damage that flames can cause can be restrained. This makes it one of the most inevitable protection layers you need for homes, offices, and public places.
Types of Flame Retardants
- Halogenated Flame Retardants: They prevent or slow down combustion reactions to the greatest extent possible. They are often used in electronics.
- Non-Halogenated Flame Retardants: They contain no halogens and also contain phosphorous and nitrogen.
- Mineral Flame Retardants: These flame retardants contain certain minerals and help prevent fire by absorbing heat and releasing water vapor when exposed to flames.
Each of these fire retardants serves a purpose and helps protect certain types of materials while fulfilling some particular category of fire safety standards. Thanks to the plenty of options available these days, manufacturers have many options that suit their needs.
The Role of ICL Industrial Products
One of the leading flame retardant suppliers, ICL Industrial Products, provides a complete list of products in different compositions that cover the wide range of needs of flame retardants. This company produces all kinds of fire retardants. But that’s not all there is to them. They use non-toxic ingredients that ensure manufacturers meet safety guidelines and provide consumers with the reliable protection they need.
Fire safety is changing, and so is the role of flame retardants, delivering critical points of safety in a number of applications and product sectors.