ISSN:
0308-0501
Keywords:
carbon monoxide
;
combustion products
;
fire retardants
;
hydrogen cyanide
;
literature reviews
;
polyurethane foams
;
rigid foams
;
thermal decomposition
;
toxicity
;
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:
The literature on rigid polyurethane foam has been reviewed with an emphasis on the gaseous products generated under various thermal decomposition conditions and the toxicity of those products. This review is limited to publications in English through 1984. Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) were the predominant toxicants found among more than a hundred other gaseous products. The generation of CO and HCN was found to increase with increasing combustion products from various rigid polyurethane foams. Lethality, incapacitation, physiological and biochemical parameters were employ as biological end points. In general, the combustion products generated from rigid polyurethane foam in the flaming mode appear from to be more toxic than those produced in the non-flaming mode. The LC50 values for 30-min exposures ranged from 10 to 17 mg l-1 in the flaming mode and were greater then 34 mg l-1 in the non-flaming mode. With the exception of one case, in which a reactive type phosphorus containing fire retardant was used, the addition of fire retardants to rigid polyurethane foams does not appear to generate unusual toxic combustion products.
Additional Material:
33 Tab.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fam.810110102
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