Summary of Flame Retardants and Flame Retardant Standards in Automobile Interior Materials and Discussion on their Problems

With the annual production and sales of China automobile industry exceeding 30 million vehicles, the flame retardant safety of automotive interior materials has become the core issue of the industry. Since 1980s, flame retardants such as halogen, phosphorus, nitrogen, metal hydroxide, boron, and antimony have been used in automobile interior materials. Recent application of flame retardants is gradually tending to be environmentally friendly and sustainable. Flame retardants and anti-flaming test methods, especially whether the support wire is used, are two main factors that affect the flame retardant results. As for the evaluation of flame retardant results, different countries/automobile manufacturers have different flame retardant standards. Finally, the limitations of antimony-based flame retardants were pointed out from four aspects of environmental protection, sustainability, economic cost, and laws and regulations. It is suggested that automobile manufacturers reduce the addition of antimony in interior materials or accelerate the development and use of other flame retardant ystems.