Inhalation toxicology. I., Design of a small-animal test system, II. Determination of the relative toxic hazards of 75 aircraft cabin materials.

In an effort to further the cause of increased safety for those who ride in commercial aircraft, this paper presents a detailed description of the genesis of a small-scale, laboratory test system that utilizes small animals to evaluate the relative toxic hazard of combustion products generated by the thermal decomposition of nonmetallic materials. It includes: a discussion of the concepts that led to the design; detailed instructions for fabricating the system; operating parameters and instructions for conducting a test; an evaluation of the system's performance as determined by the testing of 75 aircraft cabin materials; the utilization of animal response time as a basis for expressing relative toxicity; and a discussion of the derivation of an "inhalation dose" concept that promises to be more useful than "lethal concentrations." /Author/