Chemical aspects of combustion toxicology of fires

This report describes work currently being carried out at the Fire Research Station, Borehamwood to Study the role of the fire atmosphere in causing incapacitation, injury and death of building occupants in fires. The work includes a detailed study of polymer degradation mechanisms (particularly synthetic) and product formation under carefully controlled laboratory conditions and fires, together with pathological and bioassay (in vivo) work being carried out elsewhere under contract. Analytical studies are reported using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify the complex products formed during the controlled pyrolysis and thermal oxidative decomposition of butadiene-styrene latex rubber foam, polyacrylonitrile and polypropylene under low (30–400°C), medium (400–650°C) and high (700–900°C) temperature conditions. Studies are reported of the products formed during smouldering and flaming fires in an experimental 0.4 m3 fire chamber in an attempt to reproduce conditions relevant to the early stages of fires. In this way, chromatographic fingerprinting of the smouldering products from BS latex rubber foam, and the flaming products of wood wool and polypropylene are given and where possible the major components identified. The relevance of this analytical work in predicting the types of products likely to be encountered during various stages of burning is discussed. General information on the pathological studies and bioassay work being carried out at the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Glasgow and at the Huntingdon Research Centre respectively are given in order to integrate the overall research programmes and methods of approach being adopted to give an insight into the very difficult area of toxicity assessment.