Toxic fire effluents are responsible for the majority of fire deaths, and an increasing large majority of fire injuries, driven by the widespread and increasing use of synthetic polymers. Fire safety has focused on preventing ignition and reducing flame spread through reducing the rate of heat release, while neglecting the important issue of fire toxicity. This is the first reference work on fire toxicity and the only scientific publication on the subject in the last 15 years.Assessment of toxic effects of fires is increasingly being recognised as a key factor in the assessment of fire hazards. This book raises important issues including the types of toxic effluents that different fires produce, their physiological effects, methods for generation and assessment of fire toxicity, current and proposed regulations and approaches to modelling the toxic impact of fires.The contributors to Fire toxicity represent an international team of the leading experts in each aspect of this challenging and important field. This book provides an important reference work for professionals in the fire community, including fire fighters, fire investigators, regulators, fire safety engineers, and formulators of fire-safe materials. It will also prove invaluable to researchers in academia and industry. - Investigates the controversial subject of toxic effluents as the cause of the majority of fire deaths and injuries - Describes the different types of toxic effluents and the specific fires that they produce, their physiological effects and methods for generation - Provides an overview of national and international fire safety regulations including current and proposed regulations such as a standardized framework for prediction of fire gas toxicity

This report does not seek to single out synthetic polymers as a special case. It aims to provide an overview of the whole subject of combustion toxicity and threat to life, whilst supplying specific information on the most frequently encountered polymeric materials, and combustion products such as dioxins which have received high levels of media attention. An additional indexed section containing several hundred abstracts from the Rapra Polymer Library database provides useful references for further reading.

Advances in the Toxicity of Construction and Building Materials presents the potential and toxic effects of building materials on human health, along with tactics on how to minimize exposure. Chapters are divided into four sections covering the toxicity of indoor environments, fire toxicity, radioactive materials, and toxicity from plastics, metals, asbestos, nanoparticles and construction wastes. Key chapters focus on the reduction of chemical emissions in houses with eco-labelled building materials and potential risks posed by indoor pollutants that may include volatile organic compounds (VOC), formaldehyde, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC), radon, NOx, asbestos and nanoparticles. Known illnesses and reactions that can be triggered by these toxic building materials include asthma, itchiness, burning eyes, skin irritations or rashes, nose and throat irritation, nausea, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, reproductive impairment, disruption of the endocrine system, impaired child development and birth defects, immune system suppression, and even cancer. - Provides an essential guide to the potential toxic effects of building materials on human health - Comprehensively examines materials responsible for formaldehyde and volatile organic compound emissions, as well as semi-volatile organic compounds - Presents coverage on fire toxicity and an evaluation of the radioactivity of building materials - Includes several cases studies throughout and addresses current international standards

This book describes the Conference on Fire and Smoke-Resistant Materials held at the National Academy of Sciences on November 8-10, 1994. The purpose of this conference was to identify trends in aircraft fire safety and promising research directions for the Federal Aviation Administration's program in smoke and fire resistant materials. This proceedings contains 15 papers presented by distinguished speakers and summaries of the workshop sessions concerning toxicity issues, fire performance parameters, drivers for materials development, and new materials technology.

The two principal objectives of this book were (1) to identify promising materials technologies, design issues (both overall and for individual components), and fire performance parameters (both full scale and for individual components) that, if properly optimized, would lead to improved fire and smoke resistance of materials and components used in aircraft interiors; and (2) to identify long-range research directions that hold the most promise for producing predictive modeling capability, new advanced materials, and the required product development to achieve totally fire-resistant interiors in future aircrafts. The emphasis of the study is on long-term innovation leading to impacts on fire worthiness of aircraft interiors ten to twenty years hence.

The third edition of Fire Retardancy of Polymeric Materials provides a single source for all aspects of this highly challenging field of applied research. This authoritative book covers design and non-fire requirements that drive how these materials are fire protected. Detailed study and consideration of chemistry, physics, materials science, economic issues and fire safety science is necessary to address considerations of mechanical, thermal, environmental, and end-use requirements on top of fire protection means that the field requires. This thoroughly revised new edition continues to offer comprehensive coverage of the scientific approach for those developing fire safe materials. It covers new topics such as bio-based materials, regulatory issues, recycling, newer flame retardant chemical classes, and more details on how to flame retard materials for specific market applications. Written by a team of experts, this book covers the fundamentals of polymer burning and combustion and how to apply fire protection or flame-retardant chemistries to specific material classes and applications. The book is written for material scientists and fire safety scientists who seek to develop new fire safe materials or understand why materials burn in our modern environment. Features Connects fundamentals of material flammability to practical fire safety needs Covers current fire safety requirements and regulations affecting flame retardant selection Provides information on chemical structure-property relationships for flame retardancy Provides practical guidance on how to design fire safe materials for specific fire risk scenarios The new edition is expanded to 32 chapters and all chapters are updated and revised with the newest information