PVC materials have long been the subject of much unfair criticism: in spite of them, it is now clear that the smoke they generate in fires is not more toxic than that generated by other materials! One major reason for the bad publicity PVC materials and products have received is the existence of specifications, and regulations, based on tests used with the purpose of eliminating halogenated materials, such as NES 713. There is consensus in the scientific fire community on the role of smoke toxicity in the overall danger from fire and on some aspects of testing for smoke toxicity. A new test has been proposed which does not require testing materials once generic patterns have been established. Following recent studies, with both rigid and flexible compounds, it is clear that the smoke toxicity of PVC compounds is in the same range as that of commercial materials (natural or synthetic) in use today. Moreover, PVC smoke toxicity is such that, like that from most commercial materials, it does not add toxic hazard to that already inevitable due to the carbon monoxide present in very large fires.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
LevinB.C., FowellA. J., BirkyM.M., PaaboM., StolteA. and MalekD., “Further Development of a Test Method for the Assessment of the Acute Inhalation Toxicity of Combustion Products”, Nat. Bur. Stands NBSIR 82-2532, 1982
2.
KimmerleG., “Aspects and methodology for the evaluation of toxicological parameters during fire exposure”, J. Combust. Toxicol.1974, 1, 4
3.
AlarieY.C. and AndersonR.C., “Toxicologic and acute lethal hazard evaluation of thermal decomposition products of synthetic and natural polymers”, Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.1979, 51, 341
4.
AlexeeffG.V. and PackhamS.C., “Use of a radiant furnace model to evaluate acute toxicity of smoke”, J. Fire Sci., 1984, 2, 306
5.
KaplanH.L., GrandA.F., and HartzellG.E., “Combustion Toxicology: Principles and Test Methods”, Lancaster PA, Technomic Publ., 1983
6.
HirschlerM.M., “Fire hazard and toxic potency of the smoke from burning materials”, J. Fire Sci.1987, 5, 289
7.
NES 713, Determination of the Toxicity Index of the Products of Combustion from Small Specimens of Materials. Issue 2. Ministry of Defence, Naval Engineering Standard 713, Ship Department, Foxhill, Bath UK, 1981
8.
CullisC.F. and HirschlerM.M., “The Combustion of Organic Polymers”, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1981
9.
HindererR.K. and HirschlerM.M., “The toxicity of hydrogen chloride and of the smoke generated by poly(vinyl chloride), including effects on various animal species, and the implications for fire safety”, in “Characterization and Toxicity of Smoke”, ASTM STP 1082, Amer. Soc. Testing and Materials, Philadelphia PA, Ed. H.J. Hasegawa, 1990, 1
10.
BeitelJ. J., BerteloC.A., CarrollW.F., GrandA.F., HirschlerM.M. and SmithG.F., “Hydrogen chloride transport and decay, in a large apparatus- II. Variables affecting hydrogen chloride decay”, J. Fire Sci., 1987, 5, 105
11.
GallowayF.M., and HirschlerM.M., “Experiments for hydrogen chloride transport and decay in a simulated heating, ventilating and air conditioning system and comparison of the results with predictions from a theoretical model”, J. Fire Sci.1991, 9, 259
12.
GallowayF.M., and HirschlerM.M., “Hydrogen chloride release from poly(vinyl chloride): model for its decay”, Europ. Polymer J.1987, 23, 667
13.
GallowayF.M., HirschlerM.M. and SmithG.F., “Surface parameters from small scale experiments used for measuring HCl transport and decay in fire atmospheres”, Fire and Materials, 1992, 15, 181
14.
GallowayF.M., and HirschlerM.M., “The hydrogen chloride generation and deposition capability in Hazard I”, Natl. Inst. Standards and Technology Hazard I and FPETOOL Users’ Conference, October 15-6, 1992, Rockville MD, USA
15.
KaplanH.L., SwitzerW.G., HirschlerM.M. and CoakerA.W., “Evaluation of smoke toxic potency test methods: comparison of the NBS cup furnace, the radiant furnace and the UPITT tests”, J. Fire Sci., 1989, 7, 195
16.
NorrisJ.C., “Investigation of the dual LC50 values in woods using the University of Pittsburgh combustion toxicity apparatus”, in “Characterization and Toxicity of Smoke”, ASTM STP 1082, Amer. Soc. Testing and Materials, Philadelphia PA, Ed. HasegawaH.J., 1990, 57
17.
HirschlerM.M., “Smoke toxicity measurements made so that the results can be used for improved fire safety, J. Fire Sci., 1991, 19, 330
18.
HirschlerM.M., “General principles of fire hazard and the role of smoke toxicity”, in “Fire and Polymers: Hazards Identification and Prevention”, (Ed. G.L. Nelson), ACS Symposium Series 425, Amer. Chem. Soc., Washington, DC, Chapter 28, 1990, 462
19.
BabrauskasV., HarrisR.H., GannR.G., LevinB.C., LeeB.T., PeacockR.D., PaaboM., TwilleyW., YoklavichM.F. and ClarkH.M., “Fire Hazard Comparison of Fire-Retarded and Non-Fire-Retarded Products”, NBS Special Publ. 749, 1988, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg MD, USA
20.
MulhollandG.W., in PittsW.M., “Executive Summary for the Workshop on Developing a Predictive Capability for CO Formation in Fires”, NISTIR 89-4093, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg MD, 1989, 25
21.
BabrauskasV., HarrisR.H., BraunE., LevinB.C., PaaboM. and GannR.G., “The Role of Bench-Scale Data in Assessing Real-Scale Fire Toxicity”, NIST Tech. Note # 1284, 1991, National Inst. Standards Technology, Gaithersburg MD, USA
22.
BabrauskasV., LevinB.C., GannR.G., PaaboM., HarrisR.H., PeacockR.D. and YusaS., “Toxic Potency Measurement for Fire Hazard Analysis”, NIST Special Publication # 827, 1991, National Inst. Standards Technology, Gaithersburg MD, USA
23.
DebanneS.M., HirschlerM.M. and NelsonG.L., “The importance of carbon monoxide in the toxicity of fire atmospheres”, in “Fire Hazard and Fire Risk Assessment”, ASTM STP 1150, Amer. Soc. Testing and Materials, Philadelphia PA, Ed. HirschlerM.M., 1992, 9
24.
HirschlerM.M. and GrandA.F., “Comparison of the smoke toxicity of four vinyl wire and cable compounds using different test methods”, Fire and Materials, 1993, 17, 79–90
25.
HirschlerM.M., “Heat release from plastics”, Chapter 12 a, in “Heat Release in Fires”, Elsevier, London UK Eds. BabrauskasV. and GraysonS.J., 1992, Chapter 12a, 375
26.
GrandA.F., “Development of a product performance smoke toxicity test”, 1990, Final report, Southwest Research Institute Project 01-1744, for the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), San Antonio TX, USA
27.
ClarkeF.B. and HirschlerM.M., “A critical evaluation of the proposed NIBS toxicity test”, J. Fire Sci., 1991, 9, 406
28.
HirschlerM.M. and ShakirS., “Investigation of a radiant furnace smoke toxicity test apparatus”, BCC 2nd. Conf. on Recent Advances in Flame Retardancy of Polymeric Materials, May 14-16, 1991, Stamford CT, Eds. KirshenbaumG.S. and LewinM., Norwalk CI, USA
29.
HirschlerM.M. and SmithG.F., “Investigation of a smoke toxicity fire model for use on wood”, in Fire Safety Science, Proc. 3rd Int. Symp. on Fire Safety Science, July 8-12 1992, Edinburgh UK, paper A24, 1992, 615, Hemisphere, Washington, USA
30.
BabrauskasV. and PeacockR.D., “Heat release rate: The single most important variable in fire hazard”, Fire Safety J, 1992, 18, 255
31.
BeitelJ.J., BerteloC.A., CarrollW.F., GardnerR.A., GrandA.F., HirschlerM.M. and SmithG.F., “Hydrogen chloride transport and decay in a large apparatus. I. Decomposition of, poly(vinyl chloride) wire insulation in a plenum by current overload”, J. Fire Sci., 1986, 4, 15
32.
GallowayF.M., and HirschlerM.M., “Decay of hydrogen chloride in the presence of various Ruids and surfaces”, in Proc. 18th. Int. Conf. on Fire Safety, Product Safety Corp., San Francisco (CA, U.S.A.), Ed. HiladoC.J., Jan. 11-15, 1993, 72
33.
HuggettC. and LevinB.C., “Toxicity of the pyrolysis and combustion products of poly(vinyl chlorides): A literature assessment”, Fire and Materials, 1987, 11, 131
