Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken steps to make the general public aware that furniture may contain the flame retardant DecaBDE which was banned under UK REACH in March 2019.

With effect from 2 March 2019, the use of Deca-BDE was restricted through REACH – this prevents the manufacture and supply on the market of Deca-BDE, including in articles such as furniture. The restriction does not apply to articles placed on the market before 2 March 2019.

A list of restricted substances is available on the Health and Safety Executive website: https://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/restrictions.htm.