Perhaps more than ever today, health, safety and environmental impact issues are top priorities for manufacturers of all kinds. The wire and cable industry is making significant advances in products and standards to meet these important needs. Halogen-free cables are an example of this type of industry advancement.
Halogen-free cables are manufactured without the reactive elements of the halogen family: chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine and astatine. Halogens are an effective flame retardant, which is why they have traditionally been used as an insulating material. However, they can catch fire and if they do, the results can be catastrophic. While very stable in their natural state, halogens give off highly toxic and corrosive fumes if burned.
Gases produced by burning halogens create an acid when mixed with even small amounts of water, such as moisture found in the lungs, eyes, and throat. These chemical reactions can disorient and injure people trying to escape from a fire. Clearly, this creates a dangerous situation where an accidental fire can occur. On another note, halogen fumes from even minor fires can result in thousands or sometimes millions of dollars in corrosion damage to equipment and computer circuitry.
The smoke and fumes are so harmful that governments and municipalities are moving to introduce stricter regulations on halogens. Many European and international countries have already banned the use of halogen-containing cables in construction. Due to these increasing regulations, more and more manufacturers are switching to halogen-free and low-toxic options.
Halogen-free cables offer the additional benefit of being more environmentally friendly. They emit considerably lower levels of carbon monoxide (CO), sometimes up to 360% less carbon emission overall. Switching to these cables will help minimize your company’s carbon footprint and effect on global climate change. Additionally, halogen-free cables are low-smoke products because they produce far fewer airborne particles.
Halogen-free cables are perfect for applications that require high performance and reliability while offering exceptional safety, such as public transportation or busy places like airports and shopping malls. The combination of low levels of contamination, toxicity, and corrosion, and excellent product quality make halogen-free cables a must-consider option for anyone purchasing wire and cable products.