Bromine Science and Environment Forum

The BSEF and its history

BSEF was established in 1997 and represents four of the world’s major producers of brominated flame retardants – based in the US, Israel and Japan. Although the name suggests an academic body or environmentalist organisation, or a coalition of scientists, environmentalists and other stakeholders, in reality BSEF comprises of - and is funded by - the Albemarle Corporation, Dead Sea Bromine Group (now renamed ICL Industrial Products), Great Lakes Chemical Corporation and Tosoh Corporation. It is represented by the PR giant Burson Marstellar in Brussels, who are highly experienced in running corporate front groups. Burson-Marsteller also runs several other bromine industry outfits fighting EU bans on chemical products, such as the 'Alliance for Consumer Fire Safety in Europe' (ACFSE) and the European Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Panel (EBFRIP), which consists of three of the four BSEF corporations[1],[2].

BSEF had hitherto managed to operate relatively unchallenged, but the group has recently run into heavy criticism due to increasing concern over the use of bromides as flame retardants. The California-based Environmental Working Group, for instance, in a July 2003 report called the BSEF "a lobbying front dedicated to casting doubt on the mounting evidence against brominated chemicals" [3]. In a recent Open Letter calling the EU Commission to introduce binding rules on lobbying, BSEF was described as an “industry front group run from the Brussels offices of a global PR firm, on behalf of chemical industry clients� [4]. This sparked a swift reaction from BSEF, which just a few days later published a statement on a widely read EU-focused news site. In the statement BSEF presented itself as “dedicated to further the scientific and regulatory understanding of brominated chemicals including flame retardants� [5]. BSEF actually employs no staff of its own in Brussels; everyone working for BSEF from the Cortenbergh 118 head offices is a Burson-Marsteller consultant, from high-level Program Director Lawrie McLaren to Ms Angela Albers of the secretariat. In addition to this, the whole of the BSEF's budget goes through Burson-Marsteller [6].

Growing concern over Bromides

Bromine flame retardants (BFRs) are chemical compounds used in many products, ranging from computer casings to textiles and furniture, in order to reduce the risks of fire. There are many types of brominated flame retardants on the market, but the debate on potential risks has centred around the polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs. Evidence is growing that PBDEs pose a serious risk to human health and the environment and are often compared to toxins like DDT and PCBs, both banned in most parts of the world in the 1970s. Sweden took the lead in investigating the effects of these flame retardants, after toxins in the breast milk of Swedish women were discovered in the 1990's. PBDEs interfere with the body's hormone system and foetus development, resulting in unusual types of cancer, disturbance of brain development and reduced resistance to disease[7].

The BSEF and Transparency

The BSEF has faced repeated calls to increase transparency of its workings. Dawson wrote in a December 10 letter to Corporate Europe Observatory that “There is absolutely no secret about what interests BSEF represents, who its members are, or where our offices are located. All this information is readily available on our website, www.bsef.com.� Dawson fails to acknowledge that the BSEF website recently has undergone a major overhaul which added a lot of new information.

The four BSEF member corporations, which could previously only be found by clicking a button, are now prominently mentioned on the BSEF home page. The link with Burson-Marsteller was previously not mentioned at all, but after the overhaul curious visitors can discover the connection. A new “contact� category lists two staff people as working for Burson-Marsteller, including Lawrie McLaren who was previously presented only as BSEF Program Director, and his link to Burson-Marstellar was not made overt.

The BSEF and its 'dark history'

BSEF claims to be “dedicated to further the scientific and regulatory understanding of brominated chemicals including flame retardants� [8]]. The history of the bromine producers behind the BSEF suggest another story. As documented by the US-based Political Ecology Group in their 1997 report The Bromide Barons, the US companies involved in the BSEF have a track record of blocking, delaying and weakening a US ban against methyl bromide. BSEF member Albemarle Corporation (which owns the Ethyl Corporation) also has a particularly dark history of attempting to delay the phase-out of lead gasoline in the US.

The BSEF has two sets of closely related activities. In the BSEF’s own words these are to

• “commission science on BFRs and bromine and to educate decision-makers on the results of this science
• represent the bromine industry on issues of environment and human healthâ€? [9].

In reality, however, most of their activities seem to centre on lobbying parliamentarians, government officials and regulators against restrictions on the use of the bromine flame retardants. In 2005, the BSEF were nominated for the 'Worst Lobbying Award', awarded by the Corporate Europe Observatory, for their highly manipulative strategies.

Affiliated bodies

Albemarle Corporation

CEO: Floyd D. Gottwald Jr.

Major Businesses: Bromine chemicals including methyl bromide, flame retardants; speciality chemicals: ibuprofen, MMT gasoline additive, detergents and surfactants.

Operations: Plants and facilities in Arkansas, Texas, South Carolina, Belgium and France.

Revenues: $1.2 billion in 1995 Profits: $78 million in 1995 Member: Methyl Bromide Working Group, Methyl Bromide Global Coalition, the European Methyl Bromide Association,Bromine Science and Environmental Forum.

Albemarle's History

Albemarle Corporation's roots are with the General Motors-DuPont merger of 1920. During the 1920's, GM-DuPont invented both CFC's and the tetraethyl lead additive. GM-DuPont formed a 50-50 joint venture with the most powerful of petroleum corporations, Standard Oil of New Jersey (today, Exxon), to produce and market the chemical. The new company was called the Ethyl Corporation [10].

Products and politics

The Ethyl Corporation's products were soon realised to be a threat to public health, and in 1924 the story broke that 80 percent of the workers who produced tetraethyl lead had either been killed or were suffering acute poisoning.[11]. The Surgeon General set up a panel to investigate the effects of the lead additive, but Ethyl employed a lengthy lobbying and PR campaign, and the product remained on the market until 1972, the same year DDT was banned. Ethyl fought the phase-out claiming that leaded petrol emissions posed no human health hazards (John C. Robert, Ethyl, p. 321)/ To this day, they deny the hazards of TEL. As late as 1990, Floyd D. Gottwald Jr. claimed that "no conclusive scientific evidence has ever linked the use of lead in gasoline to human health problems."[12].

Ethyl/Albemarle have repeatedly been fined for spilling corrosive salt brine used to produce bromine, and for emissions of methyl bromide Albemarle has tried to disassociate itself from the reputation of its mother company Ethyl, it has quickly created its own reputation for environmental crimes. In 1993, the EPA announced $544,000 in fines for 9 violations at an Albemarle plant. In 1994, the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology announced it would fine Albemarle $332,500 for 91 alleged air pollution and record-keeping violations (David Kern, "PC&E Plans $332,500 in Fines Against Plant," A(Akansas Democrat-Gazette, December 15, 1994).

External links

Corporate Europe Observatory, Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF), Front Group for the Bromine Industry

See Sourcewatch:Bromine Science and Environmental Forum