news from the BRE Group
published: 20/6/2003
This press release is over six months old and the details may have been superseded. Please contact the Press Office for the latest information.
Toxicity test becomes standard
Exposure to toxic gases and smoke is the main cause of injury and death in fires. Since the 1950s, annual toxic smoke deaths have increased fourfold, and injuries by a factor of forty.
Despite this, there are currently no regulatory controls on toxic smoke emissions for construction products or building contents, and there have been no generally accepted methods for testing or hazard assessment. A problem with test development has been that the yields of toxic fumes from burning materials are very much affected by the combustion conditions in the fire.
Now, for the first time there is a standard method for small-scale testing of toxic emissions from building products under realistic fire decomposition conditions. The test will provide data for performance-based hazard assessments for use in product specification and fire engineering design.
The FRS tube furnace has been used for many years for research on toxic combustion products. It has recently been developed by Professor David Purser with support from the ODPM framework, to enable toxic smoke and gas yields to be measured over a wide range of combustion conditions occurring in full-scale fires.
This has now been published by the British Standards Institute as a method of determining toxic product yields in fire effluents (BS 7990: 2003). A variant of the method for estimating toxic potency of fire effluent has been published by the International Electrotechnics Commission as a Technical Specification (IEC 60695-7-50 TS), with a view to developing it into a full international standard.
For further information contact Pauline Aitchison, 01923 664973,
E-mail aitchisonp@bre.co.uk
A high-resolution image of the tube furnace is available from harveyt@bre.co.uk
Notes for editors
FRS, the fire division of BRE, is a world-class research-based consultancy and testing company, dedicated to providing fire and risk services of the highest quality and professionalism.
With some 60 years' experience, an extensive range of facilities and a high calibre team, FRS delivers a bespoke service to a wide range of clients across many sectors. FRS, incorporating LPC, is one of the largest and most respected fire laboratories in the world.
For further information visit the website at www.bre.co.uk/frs
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