Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 20 May (HL15634), whether DecaBDE is the same chemical as DecaPBDE; and whether production and use of DecaPBDE continues in the UK.

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) is a group of chemicals consisting of brominated hydrocarbons, of which decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) is one. When the term DecaPBDE is used in literature it usually refers to DecaBDE.

The UK ceased production of DecaBDE in 1996 and its use has declined sharply since then. It has been banned under the UN Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants since December 2018 and this will be reflected in the revision to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 on Persistent Organic Pollutants and also under the European chemical regulation regime, REACH, since March 2019.