How Can You Reduce Exposure to Flame Retardants?

You need to protect yourself, your home, family, possessions, and pets from the possible danger of fire. If you live somewhere particularly-prone to fires, like California, this responsibility is especially important. This is made easier through the use of flame retardants. A flame retardant is a protective coating designed to reduce the spread of flames in the event of fire. These coatings are odorless and often have the appearance of traditional paints and varnishes. As well, they comply with building and fire codes because they give the substrate rated flame spread protection.

Learn More About Flame Retardants

What a flame retardant does is make it much harder for a building or home to catch on fire and if it does, the flame moves very slowly. This gives the people inside valuable time to leave and the fire department time to arrive and put the flames out all together. The use of a fire retardant could be the difference between a near miss and a deadly catastrophe.

For decades, they have been used in many consumer and industrial products to minimize destruction to property and loss of life. Flame retardants are added or applied to a variety of products, including fabrics, steel, drywall, and more.

Reducing Your Exposure to Flame Retardants

As important as flame retardants are to keeping your building safe, you do want to be careful when handling and applying them. For this reason we recommend:

#1 Wear suitable lightweight protective clothing

#2 Wear rubber/plastic gloves, mask, and goggles

#3 When applying indoors ensure room is well aired and ventilated

#4 Protect live plants, grasses, and flowers from overspray or hose off with water after application.

#5 Wash your hands when you've finished applying the flame retardant

You'll also want to reduce your exposure to the product by being sure to apply it correctly. This isn't a time to get messy! For paint products, apply enough to thoroughly dampen the substrate but do not saturate so that it is dripping. If you are using a flame retardant spray, hold the nozzle approximately 8-inches away from the surface, spray it evenly, and overlap each sprayed area to ensure complete coverage. One coat should be sufficient on most surfaces. When treating soft fabrics, applying two light applications 10 minutes apart is the better option.

You'll want to quickly wipe away any overspray or spillage with an absorbent material. Also, remember that these products are mostly water so you'll want to take care in spraying any water based product near electricity or electrical appliances.

RDR Technologies specializes in flame retardants. Our goal is to offer the best in class products for each code requirement and substrate. As you shop our website, you'll see many great options. It's easy to find the flame retardant you need!