Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

Blomqvist, Per; McNamee, Margaret; Andersson, Petra; Lönnermark, Anders

doi:10.1007/s10694-011-0242-9

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The French rooms transitioned to black smoke very quickly and some of the black smoke was collected on the white smoke XAD collector for Experiment FR-3. The lower production of high molecular weight PAH in fire retardant protected materials was first reported by Blomqvist [18] and is consistent with the data obtained in these experiments. In addition to the standard SVOC chemicals analyzed on the XAD cartridges, these were also analyzed for TICs.…”

Section: Chemical Composition Of Smokesupporting

confidence: 92%

Comparative Room Burn Study of Furnished Rooms from the United Kingdom, France and the United States

2019

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The wide variety in country specific fire codes can dramatically affect the fire safety of home furnishings resulting in more or less escape time from structure fires. This study uses three replicates of identical rooms for each of the countries tested (France, United Kingdom, US) to increase reliability of data for a more reliable comparison. France and the US rely on smolder only furniture flammability standards while the United Kingdom relies on a combination of smolder and open flame ignition test. Each test room contained a 3 cushion couch, chair and flat panel television of identical models/manufacturers purchased from the respective countries. Additionally, each room was fitted with an identical coffee table, end table, curtain, and bookcase obtained from Walmart in the United States and 12 kg of books. All rooms were meticulously setup to ensure comparability of results. Flat panel televisions were purchased from electronic stores in the three countries, all were 1.4 m (55 inch) Samsung FPD LED models of as similar design as possible in the markets purchased. The couches and chairs were the same Ektorp furniture line of identical color purchased from Ikea. All FPD TVs and furniture appeared to be identical. All room burns were conducted in a standard ISO 9705 room. Heat release was measured by oxygen consumption calorimetry and smoke development by light dispersion in the ventilation duct. Acute toxicity measurements were made using FTIR at two collection points, the door way and at crawling height in the center of the room. Other smoke constituents were measured for concentration of PAH, VOC, SVOCs and chlorinated and brominated dioxins and furans. Two separate collection events were performed, before and after white smoke transitioned to black smoke. The time to transition from white to black smoke for the British furnishings was five times as long as that observed for the French and US models. The same is true of the time to flashover. The average pHHR for the British rooms was 200 KW less than the US and 400 KW less than the French rooms. All rooms had pHHR between 2.5 MW and 3.3 MW. Total smoke produced for the British rooms was half that of the French and US and the Peak Smoke was delayed for the British rooms by approximately 12 min. This study illustrated that the UK standard does provide a significantly better performance for an identical size and shaped couch based on time to pHHR, pHHR, time to peak smoke, and total smoke. In addition, the chemical composition of the smoke generated in the room burns featuring UK furniture were less

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Section: Chemical Composition Of Smokesupporting

confidence: 92%

Comparative Room Burn Study of Furnished Rooms from the United Kingdom, France and the United States

2019

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“…They originate from various sources including coal coking, diesel emissions, domestic heating, cooking, and from unwanted fires [46]. The molecular weight of PAH strongly influences their distribution between the gas and condensed phases, and is of direct relevance to their toxicity.…”

Section: Assessment Of Fire Toxicitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire toxicity – The elephant in the room?

Stec

2017

Fire Safety Journal

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Fire toxicity is the largest cause of death and injury from unwanted fires, yet it is the least well studied area of fire science and engineering. Fire toxicity increases by factors up to 50, as the fire becomes underventilated. This has proved difficult, but not impossible, to replicate in a controlled way on a bench-scale. Clear correlations have been observed between the stoichiometric equivalence ratio, and the yields of the major asphyxiants, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. In addition, irritant components of fire effluents, which have an instantaneous effect, can incapacitate fire victims, trapping them in a fire. However, the longer term toxicants present in fire effluents, such as the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and the microscopic particulates which result from their agglomeration are probably responsible for hundreds or thousands more deaths than the acute asphyxiants and irritants.

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“…The only chemicals detected at ppm levels post fire were acetone and propylene, neither of which are hazardous [11]. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are a significant toxic hazard in smoke but were not studied here because they have been thoroughly studied by Blumqvist et al [17]. They determined that FR FPUP produce lower molecular weight and less hazardous congeners of PAH than non-FR FPUF and that both of the FPUF are less hazardous by percent composition than the PAH produced by wood products.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible Polyurethane Foams: A Comparative Measurement of Toxic Vapors and Other Toxic Emissions in Controlled Combustion Environments of Foams With and Without Fire Retardants

Blais

Carpenter

2013

Fire Technol

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Abstract. A series of experiments were performed to measure the toxic vapor emissions of fires involving flexible polyurethane foams (FPUF) with and without flame retardants (FR). FPUF were covered with FR and non-FR fabrics to simulate cushion conditions. Testing was performed to both maximize detection of gases in small scale testing and measurement of exposure concentrations in realistic fire conditions in a room sized enclosures. A standard smoke box with load cell, open flame ignition source and Fourier transform infra-red spectrometer (FTIR) fit with a 2 m gas cell was used to monitor gas emission real time during testing with filter samples analyzed for acid gases and chloro-dioxins and furans. An NFPA 286 room was used to measure realistic smoke emissions from three seat furniture mock-ups with non-combustible frames. Oxygen consumption calorimetry, smoke opacity and smoke toxicity were measured during these tests. FTIR and grab sampling were performed during the room fires. Grab sampling using evacuated metal canisters were used to collect combustion gasses at various stages of the fire followed by analysis using EPA method TO-15 indoor air pollutants. In addition chloro-dioxins and furans were measured using a particulate filter collection system. The results of the study indicated that both FR and non-FR FPUF gave very similar results for smoke toxicity and both were less than what would be produced by an equivalent mass of wood. Use of fire barrier materials increased the toxicity of smoke produced from non-FR FPUF due to the creation of oxygen limited conditions. Use of fire barrier materials with FR FPUF would not sustain ignition and ended up producing less toxic smoke for up to 19 kW ignition source.

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

Cited by 25 publications

References 11 publications

Comparative Room Burn Study of Furnished Rooms from the United Kingdom, France and the United States

Comparative Room Burn Study of Furnished Rooms from the United Kingdom, France and the United States

Fire toxicity – The elephant in the room?

Flexible Polyurethane Foams: A Comparative Measurement of Toxic Vapors and Other Toxic Emissions in Controlled Combustion Environments of Foams With and Without Fire Retardants

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