- Author
-
Little, (Arthur D.) Inc.
- Title
- Determination of Toxicity of Combustion Products of Habitability Foams Concurrently with Flammability Studies of These Materials. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Little, (Arthur D.) Inc., Cambridge, MA
- Sponsor
- David Taylor Naval Ship R&D Center, Bethesda, MD
- Report
-
DTNSRDC-SME-CR-19-84,
June 13, 1984,
72 p.
- Contract
- N00167-84-C-0018
- Keywords
-
fire tests
|
combustion products
|
toxic gases
|
carbon monoxide
|
animals
|
death
|
habitability
- Abstract
- A method for the quantitative evaluation of fire behavior including toxicity in a single apparatus was developed and subjected to preliminary evaluation. Using four test materials identified by the U.S. Navy, conditions of decomposition process were varied by changing the heat flux (20 kW/m2 and 80 kW/m2), sample area, sample material, fire ventilation and total dilution of fire products. Toxicity was measured by bioassay using death as the animal reponse. Toxicity data were compared to test data obtained in the Uivesity of Pittsburgh test apparatus. Several possible indicators indicators of toxicity were identified. These were fuel vapor concentration, dilution factor and concentration of pyrolyzate and CO. These might prove useful in material comparisons as well as in fire modeling developed for haard evaluation. Order at relative potency for the four test materials was similar for each ranking system examined. Animals exposed to Foam A were frequently seen to have sustained severe eye damage. This sign is associated with the presence of an acid gas in the exposure medium. A Litmus paper test of chamber walls following decomposition of Foam A indicated the presence of acid.