2019-09-02 Bloomberg Businessweek

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◼ Bromine $4.40-$5.40 /5 / ounce kg U.S. market

35

Br

Bromine

A

mongthetechnicalandsometimes

arcane-seemingdebates atthis

year’smeeting of the International

CodeCouncilwasonethatgrewsur-

prisingly emotional: whether building

codesshouldallowtheuseofpolysty-

reneinsulationnottreatedwithflame

retardantinfoundations,belowa 3.5-

inchconcreteslab.Atstakewasa larger

argumentaboutwhethersomevolatile

elements,includingbromine,aresafer

forhuman healthifthey’re partof

longerchainsofmolecules.Ononeside

weresomeofthechemicalindustry’s

most powerful companies. On the other

was 74-year-old chemist and activist

ArleneBlum.

Blum is an accomplished

mountaineer—she led the first all-women

expedition to scale the Himalayan mas-

sif Annapurna in 1978—and some-

timesdescribesherprofessionaltrials

inthoseterms.In 1977 sheidentifieda

brominatedflameretardantcalledTris

asa likelycarcinogen, leading to a ban

on Tris-treated kids’ pajamas. That was

a relatively easy climb, at least compared

with persuading international standards

settersin 2008 nottoimposeregula-

tionsthatwouldhaveputhundredsof

millionsofpoundsofflameretardants

inthecasings of TVs, printers, and other

household electronics. That, Blum, says,

“was harder than Annapurna.”

Most bromine comes from the Dead

Sea,asa byproductoftheproductionof

potash,anessentialingredientinfertil-

izer.It’susefulforrubberproduction,

oil and gas drilling, and pesticides,

but its main use is in flame retardants.

Albemarle, Lanxess, BASF, and DuPont

all make these retardants or products

that contain them, and that puts them in

opposition to Blum. She “has opposed

the use of chemical flame retardants in

virtually every application and circum-

stance,”a spokesmanforDuPontsays.

TheEPSIndustryAlliance,whichrep-

resentsmakersofexpandedpolystyrene,

callsBlum’swork“alarmist.”

After her research led to the

elimination of Tris from children’s

pajamas, Blum dedicated most of the

next three decades to mountaineer-

ing, raising her daughter, and writing

a memoir. The number and uses of

ByTiffanyKary ArleneBlumhasspentdecades

persuadingtheworld to rely

less on brominated flame retardants

Photograph by Rachel Bujalski

Woman Against the

Element

Bloomberg Businessweek / SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 THE ELEMENTS