Dechlorane Plus: Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

Dechlorane Plus (DP, CAS 13560-89-9) is a fully chlorinated cycloaliphatic flame retardant, C18H12Cl12, that was blended into nylon, polypropylene and wire and cable compounds, and it is now listed in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention. Because the European listing took effect on 15 October 2025, the practical question is no longer what Dechlorane Plus does in a compound but which limit applies, which uses are still derogated and what replaces it.

ECHA added Dechlorane Plus to the REACH Candidate List on 15 January 2018 on very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) grounds, the Stockholm Convention added it to Annex A by decision SC-11/10 at COP-11 in May 2023, and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1930 added it to Annex I Part A of the POPs Regulation, in force since 15 October 2025, with an unintentional trace contaminant limit of 1,000 mg/kg until 15 April 2028 and 1 mg/kg after that. Dechlorane Plus is one of 60 flame retardant pages in our directory of plastic additives, each with the same identity, dosage and regulatory fields.

This page joins Dechlorane Plus's identity and two isomers, its mechanism alongside antimony trioxide, its physical and chemical properties, the plastics that used it, the full regulatory matrix and exemption calendar, its named replacements and the checks a buyer or importer runs today.

What Is Dechlorane Plus (DP)?#

Dechlorane Plus is a chlorinated cycloaliphatic flame retardant: a cyclooctane ring carrying two hexachlorocyclopentadiene units, which gives the molecule the formula C18H12Cl12 and 12 chlorine atoms. Which substance names does Dechlorane Plus actually cover? The molecule is also recorded under the synonym bis(hexachlorocyclopentadieno)cyclooctane, and it is registered in PubChem as CID 26111. With 12 chlorine atoms against a molecular weight of 653.7 g/mol, the chlorine content works out to about 65 % by weight, a figure calculated from the formula and molecular weight rather than measured directly.

Dechlorane Plus is an additive flame retardant, not a reactive one: it is blended into the polymer melt during compounding rather than bound into the polymer chain by a chemical reaction, which is why it can migrate out of the finished part over time and why regulators treat it as an article contaminant rather than a structural component. As an additive rather than a reactive type, Dechlorane Plus sits in the blended half of the flame retardants for plastics family, alongside the other additive systems that a compounder mixes in rather than polymerises in. No production route, synthesis conditions or purity specification for Dechlorane Plus is recorded in our source library, so none is printed here.

What is the CAS number of Dechlorane Plus?#

The CAS number of Dechlorane Plus is 13560-89-9; its EC number is 236-948-9, its formula is C18H12Cl12 and its molecular weight is 653.7 g/mol. These identifiers are recorded under PubChem CID 26111, but a compliance screen run on CAS 13560-89-9 alone is incomplete: the EU POPs entry for Dechlorane Plus covers three CAS numbers, the technical product at 13560-89-9 plus syn-DP at 135821-03-3 and anti-DP at 135821-74-8, so all three have to be checked to close out a declaration.

What are syn-DP and anti-DP?#

Technical Dechlorane Plus is not a single molecule: it is a mixture of two stereoisomers, syn-DP and anti-DP, in a ratio of roughly 1 part syn to 3 parts anti. This distinction matters for compliance, not just chemistry: the two isomers carry their own CAS numbers, and both are named individually in Annex I Part A of the EU POPs Regulation alongside the technical mixture, so a material declaration has to cover all three identifiers to be complete. No isomer-specific property, toxicity, bioaccumulation or degradation value for syn-DP or anti-DP is recorded in our source library, so this page states the ratio and the identifiers and nothing further.

Is Dechlorane Plus a brominated flame retardant?#

No: Dechlorane Plus is a chlorinated flame retardant, not a brominated one, because its formula C18H12Cl12 contains 12 chlorine atoms and no bromine. The distinction is not cosmetic: chlorinated and brominated systems are regulated, tested and replaced along separate tracks in most compliance databases. Dechlorane Plus is still a halogenated flame retardant, however, so it falls inside any specification that bans halogenated flame retardants as a class, including the ban on halogenated flame retardants in electronic-display enclosures and stands under Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2019/2021, in force since 1 March 2021.

How Does Dechlorane Plus Retard Flame in a Polymer?#

Dechlorane Plus works in the gas phase: on heating it releases hydrogen chloride, which converts the hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals that keep the combustion chain branching into far less reactive chlorine radicals. Where in the burning process does a chlorinated flame retardant intervene? A burning polymer runs a repeating cycle: heat pyrolyses the polymer into flammable volatiles, those volatiles mix with air and ignite, the resulting exothermic gas-phase oxidation releases more heat, and that heat feeds back into the polymer to sustain pyrolysis. Halogenated flame retardants interrupt that cycle chemically rather than physically.

Chlorinated flame retardants like Dechlorane Plus are classified with the first of three recognised points of attack on this cycle:

• Gas-phase radical trapping. Halogen radicals released on heating intercept the hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals that branch the combustion chain, slowing or stopping flame propagation.
• Gas-phase dilution. Non-combustible gas released by the additive lowers the partial pressure of fuel and oxygen at the flame front.
• Condensed-phase action. Char and residue formation holds carbon in the solid phase rather than releasing it as fuel, a route more associated with phosphorus- and mineral-based systems than with Dechlorane Plus.

The gas-phase and condensed-phase routes are set out side by side on how flame retardants work. No decomposition onset temperature, hydrogen chloride release temperature, limiting oxygen index value or cone-calorimeter result specific to Dechlorane Plus is recorded in our source library, so this page describes the class mechanism and gives no substance-specific numbers for it.

Why is Dechlorane Plus used with antimony trioxide?#

Antimony trioxide is a synergist, not a flame retardant: on its own it does nothing, but with the hydrogen chloride released by Dechlorane Plus it forms antimony oxychloride and then volatile antimony trichloride, which carries chlorine into the flame and traps radicals there. Antimony trioxide is the best known of the flame retardant synergists, the additives that do nothing alone.

The synergist carries its own regulatory load, which does not disappear if Dechlorane Plus is replaced by another halogenated system. Antimony trioxide (CAS 1309-64-4) carries a harmonised Carc. 2 classification (H351) and an IARC Group 2A classification for trivalent antimony (Volume 131, 2022), and it holds an EU 10/2011 food-contact entry, FCM 398, with a specific migration limit of 0.04 mg/kg expressed as antimony. It has been on the Proposition 65 cancer list since 1 October 1990. Antimony trioxide has never been added to the REACH Candidate List.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of Dechlorane Plus?#

Dechlorane Plus melts at 350 °C (662 °F) and has a density of 1.8 g/cm3, so it survives the melt temperatures of nylon and polypropylene compounding without decomposing.

These identity values trace back to PubChem CID 26111. Appearance, solubility, vapour pressure and decomposition onset are not recorded in our source library and are therefore not printed here; this candour is a trust signal, not a weakness, and it is more useful to a formulator than a guessed number would be.

Which Polymers Used Dechlorane Plus, and at What Loading?#

Dechlorane Plus was an additive flame retardant for three polymer groups: nylon, polypropylene, and the polymer compounds used in wire and cable. Our source library holds no loading level for Dechlorane Plus in any polymer, so this page states none; the loadings below are for the halogen-free and brominated chemistries that replaced it.

Blank loading cells are honest gaps, not omissions. They are filled once a source confirms them.

Typical loadings for every additive family sit side by side on additive dosage levels in plastics, which is the reference to consult once a replacement loading needs to be converted between phr and wt% for a specific formulation.

Dechlorane Plus in nylon (PA6 and PA66)#

Nylon was the main home of Dechlorane Plus, because a flame retardant for PA66 has to survive melt temperatures that destroy most chlorinated additives, and Dechlorane Plus melts only at 350 °C (662 °F). The halogen-free and brominated systems now used in PA6 and PA66 are compared on flame retardants for nylon, including the phosphinate and red-phosphorus routes that took over from chlorinated cycloaliphatics in glass-filled grades. No UL 94 rating achieved with Dechlorane Plus in nylon is recorded in our source library, so none is stated here.

Dechlorane Plus in polypropylene#

Polypropylene was the second market for Dechlorane Plus, and it is the market where halogen-free intumescent systems have taken the most ground. Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) based intumescent systems reach UL 94 V-0 in polypropylene at 22 to 30 wt%, and a blend of pentaerythritol-based APP (PAPP) with melamine polyphosphate (MPP) in a 2:1 ratio reaches V-0 at 21 wt% total loading. Intumescent and brominated routes for PP are compared on flame retardants for polypropylene.

Dechlorane Plus in wire and cable compounds#

Wire and cable compounds were the third use recorded for Dechlorane Plus, and they are also where the halogen-free alternative is best documented: mineral flame retardants at 160 to 180 phr. Aluminium trihydroxide (ATH) and magnesium dihydroxide (MDH) are used at these loadings, about 61.5 wt% at 160 phr, in EVA and LLDPE cable compounds; ATH releases water from about 200 °C, absorbing 1,051 J/g, and MDH is stable to about 320 °C, absorbing 1,316 J/g. Do not read a specific cable standard or temperature rating into this: nothing in our source library ties Dechlorane Plus to a named cable specification. Mineral, halogen-free and halogenated cable systems are compared on flame retardants for wire and cable.

What Was Dechlorane Plus Used For? Applications in Plastics#

Dechlorane Plus went into three plastics application areas: wire and cable compounds, nylon parts for electrical and electronic equipment, and flame-retardant polypropylene. No named end product, OEM or market share for Dechlorane Plus is recorded in our source library, so this page states only the three recorded application areas rather than the broader "electronics, plastics and automobiles" language that appears elsewhere online.

• Wire and cable compounds, the largest of the three recorded areas and the one with the best-documented halogen-free replacement.
• Nylon parts for electrical and electronic equipment, including connectors and housings that need to survive high melt-processing temperatures.
• Flame-retardant polypropylene, the market now most affected by intumescent halogen-free systems.

The EU's own derogated sectors are the clearest map of where Dechlorane Plus can still legally appear today: aerospace, space, defence, medical imaging and radiotherapy equipment remain permitted until 26 February 2030 under the specific exemptions in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1930. The full cable package, from stabilizer to filler, is on additives for wire and cable compounds.

How Is the Performance of a Flame Retardant Like Dechlorane Plus Measured?#

Two tests decide whether a flame-retardant compound passes: UL 94, which rates a bar or a sheet by afterflame time and dripping, and the limiting oxygen index, which reports the minimum oxygen concentration that keeps the specimen burning. The afterflame, total-time and dripping criteria for every class are on UL 94 flammability ratings: V-0 requires a single afterflame of at most 10 seconds, a total of at most 50 seconds over 10 applications, an afterglow of at most 30 seconds and no flaming drips that ignite the cotton indicator below the specimen; V-1 and V-2 allow up to 30 seconds single and 250 seconds total, with V-2 permitting cotton ignition; the horizontal-burn class HB requires a burn rate below 76 mm/min for specimens under 3 mm thick.

Why an index above 21 is not the same as self-extinguishing is explained on limiting oxygen index (LOI): LOI is the minimum percentage of oxygen in an oxygen and nitrogen mixture that supports candle-like burning of the specimen, measured under ISO 4589-2 or ASTM D2863, and because ordinary air already contains 20.9 % oxygen, an LOI above 21 % is often marketed as self-extinguishing, which is misleading. No UL 94 rating, LOI value or cone-calorimeter result for a Dechlorane Plus compound is recorded in our source library, so this page publishes none.

Why Was Dechlorane Plus Listed as a Persistent Organic Pollutant?#

Dechlorane Plus was listed because it is very persistent and very bioaccumulative: ECHA added it to the REACH Candidate List on 15 January 2018 on vPvB grounds, and the Stockholm Convention added it to Annex A by decision SC-11/10 at COP-11 in May 2023. Annex A of the Stockholm Convention is the elimination category: Parties commit to eliminating production and use of a listed substance, subject only to any specific exemptions registered for it.

Dechlorane Plus did not reach Annex A alone. COP-11, in May 2023, listed it alongside UV-328 (decision SC-11/11) and methoxychlor (decision SC-11/9), which makes that session the point at which two plastic additives were added to Annex A in the same meeting. Dechlorane Plus sits beside UV-328, the MCCPs, the PBDEs and HBCD on POPs in plastics, the page that tracks every Stockholm-listed additive relevant to this industry. This page states the listing grounds and the governing instruments; it does not state any environmental-occurrence finding, because no Great Lakes detection, food-residue review, Arctic or biota finding, or bioaccumulation factor for Dechlorane Plus is recorded in our source library.

What does vPvB mean under REACH?#

vPvB means very persistent and very bioaccumulative: Article 57(e) of REACH allows a substance onto the Candidate List on those two properties alone, without a toxicity threshold having to be demonstrated. The difference between the PBT and vPvB routes onto the Candidate List is set out under PBT and vPvB substances.

There is a screening trap worth naming here: the Candidate List entry for Dechlorane Plus is recorded under its full systematic name, 1,6,7,8,9,14,15,16,17,17,18,18-dodecachloropentacyclo[12.2.1.1(6,9).0(2,13).0(5,10)]octadeca-7,15-diene, with no CAS number or EC number attached to the entry itself, so a Candidate List screen that matches only on CAS 13560-89-9 can miss it. The numeric REACH Annex XIII criteria for vPvB status, such as half-life and bioconcentration factor thresholds, are not recorded in our source library and are not stated here.

What Is the Regulatory Status of Dechlorane Plus?#

Dechlorane Plus is a Stockholm Convention Annex A substance, a REACH Candidate List substance since 15 January 2018 and an EU POPs Annex I Part A substance since 15 October 2025, and it is separately prohibited in Canada and Japan (status 23 September 2026).

Get POPs, SVHC and restriction updates for flame retardants twice a year.

Is Dechlorane Plus banned in the EU?#

Yes: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1930 added Dechlorane Plus to Annex I Part A of the POPs Regulation, published in the Official Journal on 25 September 2025 and in force since 15 October 2025, which prohibits its manufacture, placing on the market and use in the EU. The listing covers the technical substance and both named isomers.

The prohibition is not absolute, however: an unintentional trace contaminant limit sits beside it for residual amounts that were never intentionally added, and a list of time-limited derogations covers specific sectors and specific use cases. The next two sections give both.

What is the 1,000 mg/kg unintentional trace contaminant limit?#

An unintentional trace contaminant limit is the residual concentration at which a substance present without intent does not make the article non-compliant, and for Dechlorane Plus it is 1,000 mg/kg (0.1 %) until 15 April 2028 and 1 mg/kg after that. The size of that step matters: the limit falls by a factor of 1,000 on a single date, which is the compliance event that matters most for anyone holding legacy stock or recyclate that might carry a trace of Dechlorane Plus. How an unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) limit differs from a restriction threshold is explained in the glossary entry.

Which uses of Dechlorane Plus are still exempt, and until when?#

Three groups of uses are derogated under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1930, and each one has its own end date rather than a single deadline.

The unintentional trace contaminant limit steps from 1,000 mg/kg to 1 mg/kg on 15 April 2028.

The practical reading for a manufacturer is that a derogation attaches to a use and to a placing-on-the-market date, not to a company, so the same part number can be compliant in one derogated sector and non-compliant the moment it ships into general commerce. The spare-parts derogation ends at the end of the article's service life or 31 December 2043, whichever comes first. The Stockholm Convention keeps its own Register of Specific Exemptions for Dechlorane Plus, separate from the EU calendar above; that register is not enumerated in our source library, so this page states only that the Convention listed Dechlorane Plus with specific exemptions and directs readers to the Register itself as the primary source.

Is Dechlorane Plus an SVHC, and what does that require?#

Yes: Dechlorane Plus has been on the REACH Candidate List since 15 January 2018 as a vPvB substance under Article 57(e), although it has never been moved to Annex XIV, the authorisation list. Every plastic additive on the list, with its inclusion date and grounds, is tabulated on the SVHC Candidate List. Candidate List inclusion triggers three duties that run in parallel with the separate POPs prohibition; the POPs Regulation governs the substance itself, while the Candidate List duties govern any article that contains it above the threshold.

• Article 33 communication. Suppliers must communicate an SVHC above 0.1 % w/w in an article to recipients immediately on inclusion, and answer consumer requests within 45 days.
• Article 7(2) notification. An SVHC above 0.1 % w/w in an article, and above 1 tonne per year per actor, has to be notified to ECHA within 6 months of inclusion.
• SCIP database notification. An article containing an SVHC above 0.1 % w/w has had to be notified to the SCIP database since 5 January 2021, under Article 9(1)(i) of the Waste Framework Directive.

Registration, evaluation, authorisation and the Article 33 duty are explained on REACH and plastic additives.

What must be declared in the SCIP database?#

Any article containing Dechlorane Plus above 0.1 % by weight has had to be notified to the SCIP database since 5 January 2021, under Article 9(1)(i) of the Waste Framework Directive. The 0.1 % w/w threshold and the POPs unintentional trace contaminant limit are different numbers for different purposes: 0.1 % w/w is the SCIP and Article 33 trigger for an article, while the POPs limit is the contamination ceiling for the substance in a mixture or article. What a notification to the SCIP database has to contain is set out in the glossary entry.

Is Dechlorane Plus restricted outside the EU?#

Yes: Canada and Japan both restrict Dechlorane Plus by name, and each did so on its own timetable rather than on the Stockholm calendar. Canada's Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2025 (SOR/2025-270), lists Dechlorane Plus as item 24; the regulation was registered on 12 December 2025, published in Canada Gazette Part II on 31 December 2025 and enters into force on 30 June 2026, with manufacture and import permitted only for listed uses that carry end dates up to 2044. The full item list of the 2025 prohibitions is on Canadian regulations for plastic additives.

Japan designated Dechlorane Plus a Class I Specified Chemical Substance under the Chemical Substances Control Law by Cabinet Order No. 382 of 18 December 2024, following a Cabinet decision on 13 December 2024; the designation took effect on 18 February 2025, and an import ban on listed products containing it followed on 18 June 2025. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is the source for this designation.

Is Dechlorane Plus banned in the United States?#

No: there is no federal United States ban on Dechlorane Plus, because the United States is not a Party to the Stockholm Convention and the TSCA section 6(h) rules cover decaBDE, PIP (3:1), 2,4,6-TTBP, PCTP and hexachlorobutadiene, not Dechlorane Plus. Which substances the section 6(h) PBT rules actually cover is listed on TSCA and plastic additives. The wider TSCA inventory and risk-evaluation status of Dechlorane Plus is being verified and is not published here, so this page states only what the closed section 6(h) list does and does not cover.

Several US states restrict organohalogen flame retardants as a group in furniture, children's products and electronics enclosures, which can catch Dechlorane Plus without naming it individually. Group bans on organohalogen flame retardants are tracked on US state laws on plastic additives; the specific states with such laws are not named on this page pending verification of the current list.

Is Dechlorane Plus Hazardous? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

Dechlorane Plus is restricted for what it does in the environment rather than for a health classification: it is listed as very persistent and very bioaccumulative, and our source library records no harmonised CLP classification and no GHS classification for it. What the health literature does and does not establish for this additive class is summarised under flame retardants and human health.

• The regulatory conclusions on record. Candidate List inclusion on vPvB grounds, 15 January 2018 (Article 57(e)); Stockholm Convention Annex A listing, decision SC-11/10, COP-11, May 2023.
• The classification gap on record. No harmonised CLP entry and no GHS classification data are captured in our source library for Dechlorane Plus.

Why a substance can be banned worldwide without a harmonised health classification is discussed under toxic plastic additives: persistence and bioaccumulation are independent grounds for restriction under both REACH and the Stockholm Convention, and neither requires a demonstrated toxicity endpoint. No LD50, NOAEL, half-life, bioaccumulation factor or environmental concentration for Dechlorane Plus is recorded in our source library, so none is stated here, and the regulatory record above is reported without a qualitative safety verdict either way.

What Replaces Dechlorane Plus?#

Three substitutes are recorded for Dechlorane Plus: aluminium diethylphosphinate, which is halogen-free, and two brominated alternatives, DBDPE and brominated polystyrene. One of the three is halogen-free, and one of the two brominated options, DBDPE, was itself added to the REACH Candidate List on 5 November 2025.

The full halogen-free toolkit, from phosphinates to minerals, is on halogen-free flame retardants.

Dechlorane Plus vs aluminium diethylphosphinate (DEPAL)#

Aluminium diethylphosphinate is the halogen-free replacement for Dechlorane Plus in nylon, and unlike Dechlorane Plus it comes with published loadings: about 15 wt% gives UL 94 V-0 in PA6T/66 at 1.6 and 0.8 mm. Aluminum diethylphosphinate (CAS 225789-38-8, EC 428-310-5, MW 390.27) has a phosphorus content of 23.3 to 24.0 wt%, decomposes above 300 °C and is usable to about 330 °C; it works by gas-phase PO- radical scavenging combined with a condensed-phase aluminium phosphate barrier.

The electrical values that matter for connectors follow a different loading: a 15 to 20 wt% Exolit OP 1312 blend in glass-filled PA6 and PA66 gives V-0 from 0.4 to 3.2 mm wall thickness, with a glow-wire ignition temperature (GWIT) of 775 °C, a glow-wire flammability index (GWFI) of 960 °C and a comparative tracking index (CTI) of 600 V. Grade-by-grade data for PA and PBT sit on phosphinate flame retardants (DEPAL). Aluminium diethylphosphinate is not on the REACH Candidate List.

Dechlorane Plus vs DBDPE#

DBDPE is the brominated replacement that repeats the Dechlorane Plus problem: it was added to the REACH Candidate List on 5 November 2025 on the same vPvB grounds, seven years after Dechlorane Plus. DBDPE (decabromodiphenyl ethane) (CAS 84852-53-9) is not restricted today, but it is a named, mandated substance in the EU restriction preparation for non-polymeric aromatic brominated flame retardants, with the Commission mandate issued 11 November 2025, a call for evidence running 21 January to 18 March 2026, and a draft Annex XV restriction dossier planned for December 2026.

At the formulation level, 10.7 wt% bromine combined with 5 wt% antimony trioxide gives UL 94 V-0 in HIPS at 0.8 mm. The EU restriction work on non-polymeric aromatic types is tracked on brominated flame retardants.

Dechlorane Plus vs brominated polystyrene#

Brominated polystyrene is the third recorded substitute, and its argument is molecular weight: it is a polymeric flame retardant, so it falls outside the EU restriction work that targets non-polymeric aromatic brominated flame retardants. Brominated polystyrene is polymeric, which is the whole of its regulatory argument against restriction so far. No loading level, thermal data or UL 94 result for brominated polystyrene is recorded in our source library, so this page describes the class argument for it and prints no numbers.

How to qualify a Dechlorane Plus replacement#

Qualifying a replacement chemistry should follow the same four steps regardless of which of the three substitutes is under evaluation:

1. Fix the target rating and wall thickness before choosing a chemistry. UL 94 V-0 at 0.4 mm and V-0 at 3.2 mm are different formulation problems, and the chemistry that clears one may not clear the other.
2. Check the candidate against the Candidate List and the POPs Regulation before the trial, not after. A candidate that clears molding trials only to fail a Candidate List screen wastes the qualification cycle. Candidates for a given polymer and target class can be shortlisted with the flame retardant selector by polymer and UL 94 rating.
3. Re-test the electrical properties. A change from a chlorinated to a phosphinate system moves the glow-wire ignition temperature, glow-wire flammability index and comparative tracking index, so a connector-grade compound needs fresh data, not carried-over values.
4. Ask the supplier for a Dechlorane Plus content statement against the applicable unintentional trace contaminant limit for the incoming compound. Candidate List and POPs status for a shortlisted substance can be looked up in the additive regulatory status checker.

Who Supplied Dechlorane Plus, and What Must Buyers and Importers Check?#

One producer is recorded for Dechlorane Plus: Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem), which sold it under the Dechlorane Plus name. No price, capacity, tonnage or current production status for Dechlorane Plus or for OxyChem is recorded in our source library, so this page states that one producer is recorded and prints no price or output figure.

The buyer question has changed shape since 15 October 2025: an EU buyer cannot place Dechlorane Plus on the market outside the derogated uses, so the real exposure for most compounders is no longer a purchase decision but the trace level of Dechlorane Plus that might be present in imported compounds, finished articles and recyclate. Producers of the replacement chemistries are listed in the directory of flame retardant manufacturers and suppliers.

Reference standards for analysis, such as the catalogue items seen on some search results, are laboratory materials, not compounding grades, and are outside the scope of this table.

An importer or buyer should run four checks before accepting incoming material:

1. Request a Dechlorane Plus content statement covering all three CAS numbers: 13560-89-9, 135821-03-3 and 135821-74-8.
2. Check the reported result against the applicable unintentional trace contaminant limit, and date the statement, because the limit falls to 1 mg/kg on 15 April 2028.
3. Check whether the article falls under a derogated use, and record that use's end date.
4. Check recycled and legacy input separately, because that is the channel through which a Stockholm-listed substance most often returns.

Request quotes for compliant Dechlorane Plus replacements: polymer, target UL 94 rating, wall thickness, volume. Send one request for compliant replacements to several suppliers with the plastic additive supplier finder.

How Does Dechlorane Plus Fit into the Chlorinated Flame Retardant Family?#

Dechlorane Plus is the cycloaliphatic member of the chlorinated flame retardants, the smallest of the three chlorinated groups beside the chlorinated paraffins and the chlorinated phosphates. The chlorinated class as a whole covers Dechlorane Plus and related chlorendic acid derivatives, the chlorinated paraffins (SCCP, MCCP and LCCP) and the chlorinated phosphates (TCEP, TCPP, TDCPP and V6). The global flame retardant market overall is estimated at USD 8.1 to 9.3 billion (2025 analyst estimates). All three groups, with their eight substances, are compared on chlorinated flame retardants.

Chlorinated paraffins: SCCP, MCCP and LCCP#

Dechlorane Plus is the middle listing of three: the short-chain chlorinated paraffins were listed in Annex A in 2017, Dechlorane Plus in 2023 and the medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in May 2025. SCCP (short-chain chlorinated paraffins) was the first of the three, listed at COP-8 in 2017. MCCP (medium-chain chlorinated paraffins), defined as C14-17 chains with at least 45 % chlorine content, was listed at COP-12 in May 2025 by decision SC-12/10, having been on the REACH Candidate List since 8 July 2021.

The Commission adopted Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6262 on 11 September 2026 to add MCCP to Annex I Part A of the POPs Regulation with a 0.1 % limit from 16 December 2026; it is not yet published in the Official Journal.

Dechlorane Plus in recycled plastic and legacy articles#

Recyclers now have a fourth persistent organic pollutant to test against, because Dechlorane Plus joins the PBDEs at 10 mg/kg and HBCD at 100 mg/kg on the list of unintentional trace contaminant limits that recovered plastic has to clear. The date that matters most for recyclers is 15 April 2028, when the Dechlorane Plus limit falls from 1,000 mg/kg to 1 mg/kg, moving it from a loose screen to a trace-analysis problem for any stream that mixes pre- and post-2025 material. How restricted flame retardants return through recyclate is covered on legacy additives in recycled plastic.

How is Dechlorane Plus detected and quantified?#

Halogenated flame retardants are usually found in two steps: a total-halogen screen by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), followed by a substance-specific confirmation on an extract. The broader additive analysis toolbox recorded for plastics deformulation includes high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), pyrolysis GC-MS, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), with halogen screening commonly run by XRF under the IEC 62321 methods. No Dechlorane-Plus-specific analytical method, detection limit or reference standard is recorded in our source library, so this page names the toolbox and no substance-specific method. The full screening and confirmation workflow is on additive analysis and deformulation of plastics.

Which other plastic additives are Stockholm POPs?#

Six additive groups used in plastics carry a Stockholm POP listing: the PBDEs, HBCD, the short-chain chlorinated paraffins, UV-328, Dechlorane Plus and the medium-chain chlorinated paraffins. UV-328's Stockholm POP listing was decided at the same COP-11 session, by decision SC-11/11.

When do the last Dechlorane Plus exemptions expire?#

The last Dechlorane Plus derogation in the EU runs to 31 December 2043, for spare parts and repair of vehicles, machinery, aerospace equipment and instruments, or to the end of the article's service life if that comes first. Canada's listed uses carry end dates up to 2044, which makes 2043 and 2044 the two dates a long-lived aerospace or medical programme has to plan against.

Is Dechlorane Plus the same as DDC-CO?#

Yes: DDC-CO is the abbreviation used for Dechlorane Plus in the analytical and environmental literature, and both names refer to CAS 13560-89-9. The other recorded synonym is bis(hexachlorocyclopentadieno)cyclooctane, and the isomer forms appear in that literature as syn-DDC-CO and anti-DDC-CO.

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