On 1 April 2008 The European Court of Justice issued a judgement ruling that from 30 June 2008 onwards DecaBDE shall be banned in all applications falling under the scope of RoHS.
The withdrawal of the RoHS exemption 9a namely "DecaBDE in polymeric applications" last year is a subject of much discussion, and I still receive many questions on the matter almost a year after the event.
DecaBDE was investigated intensively for more than 10 years and it is safe to say that there is more scientific data for this substance than any other alternative flame retardant.
The problem here is that DecaBDE was one of the most widely used flame retardants (FRs) in electrical and electronic equipment, but manufacturers and their component suppliers would not know which FRs are used in any parts they buy.
If you buy a connector, for example, the data sheet will not specify which FR is used. Distributors will not know and quite often the parts manufacturer will not know.
Plastics supply chains can be quite long, often originating in
The approach used by most manufacturers is to tell their suppliers not to use PBDEs including DecaBDE. A few ban all brominated flame retardants but this is not always possible technically and is not justified environmentally, despite what some "Green" groups might claim.
There are many suitable alternative flame retardants to DecaBDE although it could be argued that none of them have gone through a risk assessment as intensive as that for DecaBDE.
Most of the alternatives are more expensive and many will affect the plastics properties.
The European Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Panel (EBFRIP) concludes:
"DecaBDE is a substance with no significant risk identified and is now one of the best controlled substances through the manufacturing supply chain, when compared to other chemicals used in EEE, owing to its monitoring and emission control programs".
Directive Decoder
Gary Nevison, Head of Legislation at 
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