- Author
-
Braun, E.
|
Levin, B. C.
|
Paabo, M.
|
Gurman, J. L.
|
Holt, T.
|
Steel, J. S.
- Title
- Comparison of Toxic Smoke From Large-Scale Room Burns and Small-Scale Laboratory Experiments. (Abstract Only)
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
Abstract 804,
- Book or Conf
- Society of Toxicology. The Toxicologist. Abstracts of the 26th Annual Meeting. Volume 7, Number 1, February 1987,
201 p.,
1987
- Keywords
-
toxicology
|
polyurethane foams
|
flame retardants
|
smoke
|
large scale fire tests
|
small scale fire tests
|
animals
- Identifiers
- toxicity
- Abstract
- A flexible polyurethane foam with (FR) and without a fire retardant (NFR) and a cotton fabric, common components of upholstered furniture, were thermally decomposed in large-scale (LS) room burns and small-scale (SS) toxicity tests. Sets of Fischer 344 rats were exposed sequentially to either smoldering or flaming smoke from the burn room or a room 40 feet away. SS testing of the individual components was conducted by the NBS toxicity test method under both flaming and non-flaming conditions. The LS smoldering and SS non-flaming tests produced essentially no within exposure deaths. Post-exposure deaths occurred following both the SS non-flaming foam or cotton tests, but not the LS tests. SS and LS flaming FR and LS flaming NFR products produced deaths within and post-exposure; whereas, SS flaming NFR form or cotton produced no deaths. The combined amounts of CO, CO2, and HCN were sufficient to account for the LS flaming deaths. In both the LS and SS tests, the production of HCN increased greatly when the foams were heated to high temperatures or burned following prior exposure to non-flaming conditions. Strictly flaming or non-flaming chair or foam tests produced little HCN. Little toxicological difference was noted between smoke from the fire room and 40 feet away.