- Author
-
Levin, B. C.
|
Gurman, J. L.
|
Paabo, M.
|
Harris, R. H., Jr.
|
Clark, H. M.
|
Yoklavich, M. F.
- Title
- Reduction of Both Atmospheric Hydrogen Cyanide and Acute Inhalation Toxicity of Combustion Products From Flexible Polyurethane by Copper Additives. Annual Report. Year One.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Society of Toxicology. Annual Meeting, 1988. February 1988,
Dallas, TX,
35 p.,
1988
- Keywords
-
copper
|
acute toxicity
|
combustion products
|
hydrogen cyanide
|
inhalation toxicity
|
polyurethane foams
- Abstract
- A flexible polyurethane foam (FPU) was treated with water (control-FPU), copper dust, copper sulfate, or copper oxide to determine if the addition of copper or copper compounds would reduce both the atmospheric concentrations of HCN and the acute inhalation toxicity produced from exposure to FPU combustion products. When thermally decomposed in the NBS Toxicity Test Method apparatus via a two phase procedure previously shown to produce high concentraitons of HCN, control-FPU LC50 for acute 30 min exposure of Fischer 344 male rats was 27 mg/l (mass of FPU loaded/exposure chamber volume). In contrast, the maximum HCN concentrations produced from foams treated with copper or copper compounds were 10 to 40 ppm and the 30 min acute exposure LC50 for the copper oxide-treated foam was 43 mg/l. These results indicate that the adition of copper or copper compounds to the foams reduces both the atmospheric concentraions of HCN and the acute inhalation toxicity which results during the exposures. The occurrence of delayed post-exposure deaths (as late as 20 days) seen previoulsy with untreated FPU non-flaming combustion products was not affected by the presence of copper oxide. The cause of these late post-exposure deaths is unknown; however, comparable delayed deaths have not been observed following large-scale room burns of FPU chairs or cushions.