Industry News

Commercial Drapery Flame Retardant Treatment & Certification

When is the last time your drapery had a flame retardant treatment?

It might seem like yesterday, but unless you're enrolled in a fire safety maintenance program, your fire resistance certificate has probably expired.

In hotels, restaurants, schools, event halls, cinemas – wherever there are curtains and the public – Turning Star has worked with the facility's manager to keep their customers and audiences safe.

Not only can Turning Star make your decorative fabrics flame resistant, we'll clean them first!

EPA's Integrated Risk Information System Improving

EPA Integrated Risk Information System Getting Better

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Still Evolving

NCR recommendations are designed to improve the IRIS process to deliver timely, high-quality, and credible chemical risk assessments.

Turning Star San Francisco Bay

Flame Retardant Levels Decline In San Francisco Bay

Good News for the San Francisco Bay: Controversial PBDEs have started to disappear in bay sediment and wildlife after industry phaseouts and government bans 

According to a new study, the levels of one class of flame retardants have fallen over the past decade in the San Francisco Bay. The data on the highly controversial polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) suggest that policies restricting use of a chemical, even a persistent one, can work quickly to reduce its burden on the environment, the researchers say.

Turning Star Flame Retardants

Flame Retardants and the Construction Industry

Flame Retardants Ensure Safer Buildings

Flame retardants are used in building materials and products to meet important fire safety standards and codes. Flame retardants are designed to stop or slow the spread of fire, and provide critical escape time.

Flame Retardants and Common Household Items

Flame Retardants In Household Items Save Lives

Public Safety in the Home - When Every Second Counts

Consumers are often unaware that household items, like a sofa or a TV set, contain highly flammable materials such as plastics and polyurethane foam. These materials are a potential fire risk; they ignite easily and can engulf a room in flames within minutes. Flame retardant plastics and foams can effectively stop the burning process and delay the ignition period. This allows people more time to escape and for fire crews to arrive on the scene.  

Furniture and Flame Retardants

Turning Star Fire Retardants

Flame Retardants Provide Important Layer of Protection For Furnishings

The addition of flame retardants to furnishings allows them to meet important fire safety standards and requirements designed to keep the public safe.  When Flame retardants are added to fabrics and fillings, they work to help reduce the rate at which they burn and can prevent a fire from spreading.

Theater Fires

Not in MY Theatre

Theatre Fires: A Preventable Problem

Theatre fires are a very real problem in today's entertainment industry.

While many believe these fires are a thing of the past, in 2014 there were over eighteen fires at working live theatres or venues.  History shows us that these fires can have deadly outcomes, reference the Station Fire of 2006 with the loss of 100 lives all the way back to the Iroquois Theatrer Fire of 1903 with the loss of life total at 603.  

In 2014 alone, there were eighteen theatre fires with varying degrees of severity - but all had costly results. 

Q & A on the Necessity of Flame Retardants

Flame Retardants

Q: What are the protective benefits of flame retardants?

A: Flame retardants play a unique role in fire prevention and fire safety. They not only prevent fires from starting, but if a fire does occur, they slow down the spread of the fire and improve the opportunity for safe escape. Their role in delaying flashover, for example, is especially critical to escaping the deadly consequences of fire. Flashover occurs when every flammable object in a room bursts into flames at the same time as a result of a combination of intense heat and the release of flammable gases. This can occur in just a few minutes, and flame retardants’ function in slowing this process down can be the difference between life and death.

The benefits of flame retardants are well documented in studies and in real life examples.

Understanding ANSI Safety Signs and Colors

High voltage… biohazard… wet floor… radioactive materials… the effectiveness of safety signs like these relies upon consistency and bold, graphic impact to warn people against specific hazards and personal injury.