Domestic appliance standard

LANXESS products offer impressively high flame retardance

New products in compliance with IEC 60335-1

Leverkusen – Requirements for flame-retardant polymers in the home environment are extremely high. With its Pocan® DP BFN 4230 and Pocan® DP 2004 polyesters, the LANXESS chemicals group has succeeded in developing two flame-retardant materials that are of particular interest for the domestic appliance sector. They meet the recently extended domestic appliance standard IEC 60335-1.
Pocan® DP BFN 4230 and Pocan® DP 2004 are listed on the yellow card with glow wire ignition temperatures (GWIT) of 775°C and higher. An added advantage is that both products contain halogen-free flame retardants.

The international standard IEC 60335-1 stipulates that plastic components for domestic appliances that are operated without supervision (such as refrigerators, washing and coffee machines, and dishwashers) and whose current exceeds 0.2 A must have been tested for fire resistance. This standard also covers unsupervised equipment in small and midsize businesses, such as pump and lighting components. The plastics used have to withstand extreme temperatures in a glow-wire test. Only a few polyamides and polyesters meet the high GWIT (glow wire ignition temperature) criteria required.

LANXESS supplies a range of different polyesters and polyamides that can be used in accordance with IEC 60335-1, including Durethan® DP A30SFN30, a non-reinforced and halogen-free polyamide 66. As with copolyamides, this material offers excellent processing capabilities at comparatively low melt temperatures and frequently enables cycle times that are shorter than when copolyamides are used. Processors benefit by meeting the standard and saving on processing. Comelux – a leading Italian manufacturer of electronic components –uses Durethan® DP A30SFN30 to produce, among other things, rocker switches and plugs for the domestic appliance industry.

Durethan® DP 2802/30 and Durethan® DP 2801 are two PA 66 grades with halogen-free flame-retardant properties. Both materials have an excellent tracking resistance of 600 Volts. They are used, for example, in small electrical devices such as the mixer insert in blenders made by BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH and electronics housings for washing machines from Gorenje.

Certain halogenated, semi-crystalline materials from the Pocan® and Durethan® ranges, such as the non-reinforced PBT+PC blends Pocan® KU 2-7604 and Pocan® DP CF 2200, the extrusion grade Durethan® DP 1802, and the glass-fiber reinforced Durethan® DP 2851/30 also meet the new legal requirements.

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Leverkusen,July 2006

vit(2006-0147e)

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.