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ABSTRACTS AND REVIEWS 295 The foUowmg conclusions were presented for the phase usmg building materials. 1. Carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death for the wood, woodwool- cement board, plywood, melamme finishing board and acryhc resin The average values of the COHb m the mice ranged from 39% to 49%. 2. With PVC and polyurethane the cause of death is thought to be the com- bmed effects of CO and some other noxious gases. The average COHb level for the PVC cases was 21% and for the polyurethane i t was 24% which are significantly lower than those levels mentioned above 3 The gas generated prior to any noticeable smoke caused irregularities in the cardiograms for all materials A "considerable amount of effect" is prevalent be- fore the concentration of smoke becomes thick In other words, "harmful gases produced at the time of combustion caused fairly great damage to human bodies at the early stages of fire " The report includes some incidental information such as the breakdown of fire fatahties m Japan durmg 1967-1968 There were 2266 fire fatahties for the two years of which 55 to 60% were considered to be caused by CO poisomng and suffocation. There are references cited to other Japanese work in the toxicity field which are published in the Japanese hterature L. Operations Research, Mathematical Methods, and Statistics North, M. A. and Baldwin, R. (Jomt Fire Research Organization, Boreham Wood, England) "An Association Between Fire Spread and Casualties m Fire," Joint Fire Research Organization Fire Research Note No 893 (October 1971) Section: L Subjects: Fire statistics. Fire spread Authors' Summary Fu-e statistics for multi-storey houses mdicate a possible association between the incidence of fires causing casualties and fire spread, even allowing for the presumed state of awareness of the victims at the time of the fire This association IS quite strong for fires mvolving fatalities and seems to mdicate a strong correla- tion between fatalities and spread, but the association is relatively weak for fires mvolving non-fatal casualties whose frequency appears to be correlated more with the frequency of outbreaks of fire I t is pomted out that no causal relationship has been established and that there is more than one explanation for this association.
