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4. Smoke Toxicity Testing
Pages 25-40

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From page 25...
... In terms of lethality, however, about 70 percent of fire fatalities result from smoke inhalation (Hardwood and Hall, 1989~. Smoke most often Is defined as the airborne solid particulates and liquid aerosols and fire gases evolved when a material undergoes pyrolysis or combustion (ASTM, 1982; see also Appendix B of this report)
From page 26...
... . Isocyanates From urethane polymers; Potent respiratory irritants; pyrolysis products such as believed the major irritants toluene-2 4-diisocyanate in smoke of isocyanate-based (TDI)
From page 27...
... Methane 2.9 Carbon dioxide 56. Nitrous oxide Ethylene Acetylene Ethane Cyanogen Propane Hydrogen cyanide Water Acetonitrile Acetone Propenenitrile Acetic Acid 3-Butenenitrile Benzene Butenenitrile Dio~cane Toluene Chlorobenzene Xylene Phenol Benzonitrile Toluonitrile Dicyanobenzene TOTAL 0.01 0.027 0.003 0.014 0.001 0.014 0.44 0.27 0.020 0.029 0.43 0.17 7.1 0.020 0.037 1.9 0.033 0.13 0.10 13.6 1.2 1.1 170.55 Pyrolyzed in nitrogen at 550°C.
From page 28...
... Unlike sensory irritation, the effects of pulmonary irritation are related both to the concentration of the irritant and to the duration of the exposure. None of the smoke toxic potency tests to be described explicitly measures either sensory or pulmonary irritation.
From page 29...
... The Laboratory Combustion Device In an effort to clarify the issues and bring a more systematic and scientific approach to the problem, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) /Technical Committee 92/Subcommittee 3 (Toxic Hazards in Fire)
From page 30...
... The number of animals that show a response, such as lethality or incapacitation, increases as the concentration is increased. In combustion toxicology, smoke concentration is traditionally expressed either as the quantity of test material used per chamber unit volume (the material charge concentration)
From page 31...
... is used as a more specific term to denote the concentration of material or smoke that produced death in 50 percent of the animals. Although some test methods do report other response measurements, the LC~0 is the most commonly reported measurement of toxic potency in smoke toxicity testing.
From page 32...
... test method (Alarie and Anderson, 1979; New York State, 1986) , the combustion device is a muffle or box furnace, which is often used in an inverted position to provide for a pedestal connected to a mass sensor (Figure 4-2~.
From page 33...
... It results in a gradual fractionation of the pyrolysis products, with a disproportionately high percentage of low-temperature decomposition products in the fire effluent that is analyzed and presented to the test animals early in an exposure. Despite these problems, the UPt t-T test Is required for certain construction products in the state of New York (New York State, 1986~.
From page 34...
... Decomposition, taking place in an air stream countercurent to the direction of furnace travel, is intended to result in the continuous flow of fire effluents of constant composition. Radiant heat is the major source of energy transfer.
From page 35...
... External to the combustion cell are four tungsten-quartz radiant heat lamps focused onto the plane of the specimen. A platform, accommodating test specimens of 76 x 127 mm and up to 51 mm in thickness, is connected to a load cell located ~ SMOKE SHU l l en ANIMAL EXPOSURE TORTS ~ 1- ~ -- A -- - i -- - A -- - ~ -- A -- -- ~ ~ i]
From page 36...
... Developmental work still in progress, should permit better characterization of the properties of this combustion device. Unique to this method is a proposal that the test method be used to develop an linden of potential toxic hazard.
From page 37...
... (Hazard assessments currently tend to set threshold tenability levels for acid gases and other combustion products known to have irritant properties.)
From page 38...
... 1984. "Standard Test Method for Estimating Sensory Irritancy of Airborne Chemicals," ASTM E 981, American Society for Testing and Materials' Philadelphia, PA.
From page 39...
... 1983. "An InterIaboratory Evaluation of the National Bureau of Standards Test Method for Assessing the Acute Inhalation Toxicity of Combustion Products,.
From page 40...
... 1988. Toxicity Assessment of Combustion Products and Modeling of Toxic and Thermal Hazards in Fired SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, Section 1, pp.


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