ISSN:
0308-0501
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Architecture, Civil Engineering, Surveying
,
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
A study of the 1979 UK fire statistics and the Annual Report of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys shows that only 1 death per 1000 is attributable to toxic gases from combustion. However, of the ‘deaths by violence’ it rises to 30 (3%). As 37% of all fires in occupied buildings were confined to the first item ignited and 53% to the area of origin it is postulated that such fires (and the consequent deaths) largely concerned substances which will burn on their own. From experience these are largely materials with limiting oxygen indices below 22 or 22-28 for restricted burning only. Those with limiting oxygen indices 〉28 cannot on their own sustain combustion. These considerations suggest the mode in which toxic gas tests should be conducted, i.e., horizontally or vertically and vertically only for the first two groups, respectively, and in the presence of a fire sustainer for the limiting oxygen index 〉28 group. Wood in the form of a wooden crib is suggested as suitable. To this end some experiments are described with PVC placed on top of a No. 5 crib (PSA). These latter show that, making the best assumption possible from the existing data, the wood contributes about 63% to the toxicity and the PVC 37%. On the large scale, other work has shown that wooden cribs alone will give lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide for significant periods. Thus difficult-to-burn substances need to evolve gases of exceptional toxicity for their contribution to be worth considering.
Additional Material:
1 Tab.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fam.810060207
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