TRIS as flame retardant, chronic poison at home

In modern life, flame retardants are almost everywhere. Thousands of flame retardant molecules are just like the alert little guards, and they are silently guarding your life and property safety. Let us stay away from the threat of fire. However, flame retardants may become a chronic poison in our lives.


A study by Duke University in the United States shows: In order to prevent fires, some household products made of petroleum extracts, such as sofas, curtains, floor mats, car seat cushions, etc., will add flame retardant ingredients during the manufacturing process, which will hinder the development of children's nervous system and even cause cancer.

The study found that:


The amount of flame retardant contained in the dust of California residents' homes has already exceeded the safety limit. Of the 32 different dust samples, 55 different flame retardant compounds were detected. These household products with flame retardant ingredients will gradually release toxic chemicals. Especially when the furniture has a rupture, the toxic substances will be "jetted" out, dissolved in the dust or sucked into the lungs.


These harmful flame retardants are mainly two chemicals:

• One is Tris(Hydroxymethyl) Aminomethane (TRIS), a buffer solution commonly used in biological preparation and medical preparation. It is commonly used in: gel electrophoresis buffer, such as TAE or TBE; preparation of Laemmli buffer; preparing running buffer and loading buffer together With glycine and SDS; binding buffer and an eluent in anion exchange chromatography; RNA hybridization and DNA cleavage. Because of its potential health risks, it was banned for infant and young children’s clothing as early as 1977, but it was used in sofas and other household items;
• The other is pentabromodiphenyl ether. A large number of studies have shown that brominated flame retardants can infiltrate into the human environment and accumulate in living organisms over time, which can destroy endocrine activity, affect thyroid function regulation and even brain development. In particular, excessive exposure of pregnant women can directly lead to newborn baby's low birth weight, low IQ and impaired behavior. For this reason, after 2005, some US producers began to voluntarily discard this brominated flame retardant, which has been abandoned in most developed countries.

Experts in China also recommend:
For flame-retardant furniture such as sofas, curtains, and wallpapers, it is best to use a phosphorus-based flame retardant. Because bromine is highly carcinogenic, it has a greater impact on children, leading to childhood leukemia and genetic mutations.


At the same time, in order to minimize the impact of the flame retardant on the body, the dust in the home should be minimized, go to the air place, wash your hands everyday, and the electric blanket or the flame retardant mattress should not be used as much as possible.


Edited by Suzhou Yacoo Science Co., Ltd.