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Dibutyl Tin Compounds Banned From 2015
Kestrel - 29th October 2009
The Commission of the European Communities has confirmed in its Directive 76/769 that Dibutyl Tin (DBT) compounds such as those used in tin stabilisers for PVC building products will be banned in articles supplied to the consumer that contain over the equivalent 0.1% weight of tin from 2012.
The ban is based on the potential health risk DBT poses to adults and particularly children. Some products – although it's open to interpretation which products - have been given the slightly more generous deadline of 2015. Tony Crutcher, Sales and Marketing Director of Kestrel, the leading manufacturer of no lead, no tin, 100% calcium organic stabilised PVC-UE and PVC-U building products, comments on what this change means for Housing Associations specifying these building products: "It was announced some time ago that DBT was 'likely' to be banned and we have been warning the market ever since of the need to plan for this change in legislation sooner rather than later – and now it's certain. Most manufacturers haven't yet made the switch and it could be too late. It's not an easy thing to do, and we've already seen several manufacturers trying and failing to make the change. However there are alternatives already available.
"The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) found these compounds to 'pose a risk to human health, particularly for children.' In light of this the deadline for eliminating DBT is irrelevant, if suitable alternatives are available now, surely we should be supplying and specifying products with no health risk to humans, sooner rather than later. And if we do need more motivation than that, how about the fact that because the Butyl tins in question are Category II CMR and of significant tonnages, they also have to be registered under REACH by the end of 2010. This is an expensive process so in light of the deadline for this Directive, it won't make commercial sense for companies to register these products. This means with the combination of pressures from REACH and Directive 76/769 most, if not all, of these stabilisers will not be able to be manufactured after the end of 2010.
"Kestrel has already future proofed its products by eliminating tin as well as lead, in favour of a safer calcium organic stabiliser, because we heeded the advice that tin was 'likely' to be banned, some time ago. Other manufacturers have tried and failed to replace both their lead and tin stabilisers but this new ruling will force their hand to try again. With the added time pressure they are now under, this could cause a great deal of disruption to the supply and quality of their products. If you want to be sure you are specifying the very safest technology that is future proofed against these changes, check with your supplier that their building products are stabilised with something other than tin or lead."
For more information on Kestrel please call 01724 400487 or visit www.kbp.co.uk/VINYL2010
