LCA study of TV sets with V0 and HB enclosure material

A general LCA model for the determination of the environmental effect of the incorporation of a flame retardant into a product has recently been developed and presented internationally. This model weighs the benefits of choosing a high level of fire safety (in terms of fewer and smaller fires) against the environmental cost of the method used to attain this level of safety, i.e., the environmental cost of producing and using a given flame retardant. This paper presents the first full application of this new model. A full TV fire model has recently been presented based on differences found between different sources of fire statistics. Using this statistical model to determine material flows in the new LCA model it has been possible to make a quantitative comparison between the real effect on the environment of the choice of a high level of fire safety. Using LCA input from the open literature, fire experiments, and industry, the authors have been able to show that the emission (for the whole LCA) of key species is substantially lower for a TV with a flame retarded enclosure relative to those from a TV with a nonflame retarded enclosure. Finally, the results of the LCA are placed in their context in terms of life safety and the destructive power of fires.