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Combustion Toxicity

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SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to review experimental studies, especially those involving combustion chemistry and toxicity test methods, in order to establish the basis and validation for material toxicity and toxic hazard calculations and to obtain yield data for input to fire dynamics and toxicity calculations. The review covers several major topics, including the following:

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hartford Environmental Research Hatfield, Hatfield, UK

    David A. Purser

Authors
  1. David A. Purser
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aon Fire Protection Engineering, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Morgan J. Hurley P.E., FSFPE (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Hughes Associates, Baltimore, USA

    Daniel Gottuk Ph.D., P.E.

  3. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, USA

    John R. Hall Jr. Ph.D.

  4. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kazunori Harada Dr. Eng.

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    Erica Kuligowski Ph.D.

  6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA

    Milosh Puchovsky P.E., FSFPE

  7. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

    José Torero Ph.D.

  8. The Fire Safety Institute, Quincy, USA

    John M. Watts Jr. Ph.D., FSFPE

  9. FM Global, Johnston, USA

    Christopher Wieczorek Ph.D.

Appendix

Appendix

Acidosis:

A condition in which the pH of the blood is lowered (i.e., becomes more acidic). Respiratory acidosis in fire exposures results from excess carbon dioxide uptake. Metabolic acidosis results from impaired tissue respiration (due to tissue hypoxia) caused by burns or asphyxia. (See alkalosis.)

Addition:

Two or more toxic substances are considered to exert an additive effect when they act in concert, such that the effect in combination is greater than the effect of either substance acting alone but not greater than the sum of the effects of either substance acting alone (when they may be said to be directly additive). (See also synergism.)

Aerodynamic diameter:

The aerodynamic diameter of a particle is an expression of particle size, and represents the diameter of a spherical particle of unit density with the same aerodynamic properties as the particle under consideration.

Aerosol:

Solid or liquid particles dispersed in air.

Alkalosis:

Respiratory alkalosis occurs when the pH of the blood is increased (i.e., becomes more alkaline). It is caused by excess removal of carbon dioxide from the blood via the lungs during hyperventilation and may cause a loss of consciousness.

Available Safe Escape Time (ASET):

ISO Definition: Time available for escape for an individual occupant, the calculated time interval between the time of ignition and the time at which conditions become such that the occupant is estimated to be incapacitated, i.e., unable to take effective action to escape to a safe refuge or place of safety

NOTE 1 The time of ignition can be known, e.g., in the case of a fire model or a fire test or it may be assumed, e.g., it may be based upon an estimate working back from the time of detection. The basis on which the time of ignition is determined is always stated.

NOTE 2 This definition equates incapacitation with failure to escape. Other criteria for ASET are possible. If an alternate criterion is selected, it is necessary that it be stated.

NOTE 3 Each occupant can have a different value of ASET, depending on that occupant’s personal characteristics.

Asphyxia:

Suffocation; a decrease in the oxygen content, and increase in the carbon dioxide content of the blood that may occur due to laryngeal spasm caused by burns or irritant gases or to impairment of breathing or gas exchange in the lung. The term has been extended to include all causes of tissue hypoxia, including exposure to asphyxiant gases (low oxygen concentration due to the excess of any other gas, or exposure to the asphyxiant gases carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, which produce asphyxia chemically).

Atmosphere (fire atmosphere or test atmosphere):

The total airborne medium to which a victim or experimental animal is exposed, consisting of solid and liquid particles and vapors dispersed in air.

Behavioral effects/incapacitation:

The extent to which exposure to fire products affects the ability or willingness of a subject or experimental animal to perform coordinated movements or tasks, particularly movements or tasks similar to those required to escape from a fire. (See incapacitation.)

Bioassay:

Originally a term reserved for the use of a biological system to detect or measure the amount of a biologically active material. In the fire context, it refers to the use of animal exposures rather than chemical analysis to determine the toxicity of a combustion product atmosphere.

Blepharospasm:

Involuntary and sustained closure (spasm) of the eyelids. In fires it is due to the painful stimulation of the cornea by combustion products that are sensory irritants.

Bronchoconstriction:

Constriction of the conducting airways in the lung due to the contraction of smooth muscle in the airway walls in response to an agonist or to stimulation of irritant receptors acting through the vagus nerve.

Burn:

Tissue lesion caused by heat or chemicals. For description of burn types and degrees, see text.

Carboxyhemoglobin (COHb):

Combination of carbon monoxide with hemoglobin in the blood, which limits the combination of hemoglobin with oxygen (oxyhemoglobin), and therefore the carriage of oxygen in the blood.

Cerebral depression:

Condition in which the electrical activity of the cerebral cortex as revealed in the electroencephalogram consists mainly of slow wave (or delta wave) activity that is typical of a semiconscious or unconscious state.

Combustion products:

Strictly speaking, this term means the products of flaming decomposition and is used in this sense when contrasted with thermal decomposition products. However, in general usage, the term may be taken to include all fire products, whether produced by flaming or nonflaming thermal decomposition.

Concentration:

The amount of a contaminant in the atmosphere per unit volume of the atmosphere, usually quoted as mass/volume (mg/L or mg/m3) or volume/ volume (ppm or percent). (See nominal atmosphere concentration.)

Dose:

The amount of a toxicant to which a fire victim or test animal is exposed. The simplest estimation of dose for inhalation toxicology is to multiply the atmosphere concentration by the duration of exposure (Ct product). A lethal dose may be expressed in terms of the LCt 50. However, other factors may affect the amount of toxicant actually entering the body, and for fires it may be necessary to express dose in terms of the material in the fire. (See nominal atmosphere concentration.)

Edema:

Accumulation of an excessive amount of fluid in cells, tissues, or body cavities. Pulmonary edema occurs when a fluid exudate leaks out of blood vessels as a result of inflammation or circulatory insufficiency, and the lung tissues become swollen and waterlogged. Further development results in a fluid exuded within the alveolar spaces. This fluid accumulation seriously affects gas exchange in the lung and may be fatal.

Electroencephalogram:

Waves of electrical activity in the cerebral cortex recorded from the surface of the head, which give an indication of the physiological state of the brain and the degree of alertness of the subject. A preponderance of fast (beta and alpha) activity indicates a conscious and normal state, whereas a preponderance of slow (theta and delta) activity signifies a physiologically depressed or unconscious state.

Erythema:

Reddening of the skin in response to heat. This change coincides with pain and just precedes a skin burn.

Fire profile:

Record of the changes with time of the concentrations of important fire products and intensities of physical parameters during the course of a fire.

Flaming fire:

In the context of this chapter, this term refers to the early stages of fire growth (preflashover), when the fire is still confined to burning items within a well-defined area.

Flashover:

Point in growth of a flaming fire where the flames are no longer confined to burning items but also occur within the fire effluent, remote from the seat of the fire.

Fractional incapacitating dose:

The dose of a toxic product acquired during a short period of time, expressed as a fraction of the dose required to cause incapacitation at the average exposure concentration during that time interval. The fractional incapacitating doses acquired during each short time period are summed throughout the exposure, incapacitation occurring when the fraction reaches unity.

Fully developed fire:

A fire that has reached its maximum extent of growth, usually extending throughout the fire compartment.

Haber’s rule:

Principle that toxicity in inhalation toxicology depends on the dose available and that the product of concentration and exposure time is a constant.

Hazard:

A toxic fire hazard exists when a toxic product is present at a sufficient concentration and over a sufficient period of time to cause a toxic effect. A physical fire hazard exists when a physical fire parameter (heat or smoke) is present at an intensity and over a period sufficient to cause injury or seriously inhibit the ability to escape from a fire.

Hypercapnia:

Increased blood carbon dioxide concentration.

Hyperthermia (heat stroke):

An increase in body temperature above 37 °C. Hyperthermia is life-threatening if the body core temperature, or temperature of the blood entering the heart, exceeds 42.5 °C.

Hyperventilation:

Increased rate and depth of breathing (increased respiratory minute volume, or RMV), in response to increased carbon dioxide, hypoxic hypoxia, hydrogen cyanide, exercise, heat, or stimulation of pulmonary irritant receptors.

Hypoxia:

A reduction in the amount of oxygen available for tissue respiration, which can occur in the following four ways:

Anemic hypoxia:

The arterial PO2 is normal, but the amount of hemoglobin available to carry oxygen is reduced and the ability to release oxygen to the tissues is impaired. For fire exposures this results mainly from the formation of carboxyhemoglobin following exposure to CO, but an anemic subject would be at increased risk.

Histotoxic hypoxia:

The amount of oxygen delivered to the tissues is adequate, but due to the action of a toxic agent such as HCN, the tissue cells cannot make use of the oxygen supplied to them.

Hypoxic hypoxia (low-oxygen hypoxia):

The PO2 of the arterial blood is reduced as a result of a low atmospheric oxygen concentration or impairment of gas exchange in the lung, due to bronchoconstriction or respiratory tract damage or disease.

Ischemic hypoxia:

Blood flow to a tissue is so low that adequate oxygen is not delivered to it despite a normal PO2 and hemoglobin concentration. This occurs during shock following burns and in cerebral tissue due to alkalosis or briefly during postural hypotension.

Incapacitation:

An inability to perform a task (related to escape from a fire) caused by exposure to a toxic substance or physical agent in a fire. A distinction is sometimes made between severe physiological incapacitation, in which the subject is unable to move normally, such as might occur in an unconscious or badly burned victim, and the more behavioral incapacitation, such as that caused by visual obscuration or eye irritation from smoke, in which the victim is more or less intact, but still unable to escape from the fire.

Inflammation:

A complex of reactions occurring in blood vessels and adjacent tissues around the site of an injury. The initial reaction is congestion (engorgement of local blood vessels), exudation of fluid into the tissues (edema), and pain followed by a phase of destruction and removal of injured tissue by inflammatory cells and then a phase of repair.

Intensity:

Level of a harmful physical fire parameter (such as radiant heat flux, air temperature, or smoke optical density).

Intoxication:

A state in which a subject is adversely affected by a toxic substance. Specifically, the time at which a subject has taken up a sufficient amount of an asphyxiant (narcotic) gas that he or she behaves like someone severely affected by alcohol.

Irritation and irritancy:

Irritation is the action of an irritant substance, irritancy is the response. This response takes the following two forms:

Pulmonary (lung) irritant:

Response occurs when an irritant penetrates into the lower respiratory tract and may result in breathing discomfort (dyspnea), bronchoconstriction, and an increase in respiratory rate during the fire exposure. In severe cases it is followed after a period (usually of a few hours) by pulmonary inflammation and edema, which may be fatal.

Sensory irritant:

Response occurs when an irritant substance comes in contact with the eyes and upper respiratory tract (and sometimes the skin), causing a painful sensation accompanied by inflammation with lacrimation or mucus secretion. At low concentrations, this effect adds to the visual obscuration caused by smoke, but at high concentrations the severe effects may cause behavioral, and to some extent physiological, incapacitation. Sensory irritation causes a decrease in respiratory rate that is transient in humans but continuous in rodents.

Lacrimation:

The production of tears in response to sensory irritation of the eyes.

LC 50 :

Lethal concentration—50 %. The concentration statistically calculated to cause the deaths of one-half of the animals exposed to a toxicant for a specified time. It may be expressed as volume/volume (ppm, percent) or mass/volume (mg/L). Care must be taken in comparing LC 50s of both the exposure duration and the postexposure period over which deaths were scored. In combustion toxicology, the LC 50 may be related to the test material rather than its products and expressed in terms of the nominal atmosphere concentration of material either of mass charge or mass loss. (See nominal atmosphere concentration.)

LCt 50 :

The product of exposure concentration and duration causing the deaths of 50 % of animals.

Narcosis:

Literally “sleep induction” but used in combustion toxicology to describe central nervous system depression causing reduced awareness, intoxication, and reduced escape capability, leading to loss of consciousness and death in extreme cases. The asphyxiant gases CO, HCN, and CO2 cause asphyxia, as does lack of oxygen due to the inhalation of an atmosphere low in oxygen, an impairment of breathing, or an impairment of gas exchange in the lung. The terms narcosis and narcotic gases are used synonymously with the terms asphxia and asphyxiant gases.

Nominal Atmosphere Concentration (NAC):

The theoretical concentration of test substance in a test atmosphere, calculated from the mass of test substance produced from the atmosphere generation system each minute divided by the air volume into which it is generated. This concept is not directly applicable to combustion toxicology since the test material is decomposed in the fire or furnace system, but two derivative concepts are used to relate the test material to the degree of toxicity as follows:

Nominal Atmosphere Concentration mass charge (NAC mass charge):

The mass of material placed in the furnace system per volume of air into which it is dispersed (mg material/liter).

Nominal Atmosphere Concentration mass loss (NAC mass loss):

The mass loss of material during decomposition per volume of air into which it is dispersed (mg material/liter).

Physiological effects:

Effects of chemical fire products or physical fire parameters on the functioning of the body, as opposed to parameters affecting the mind. Thus, a physiological effect of smoke is that it obscures vision, which might have a psychological effect on the willingness of a victim to enter a smoke-filled corridor.

Pneumonia (Pneumonitis):

Inflammation of the lungs, in fire victims due to the direct effects of inhaled chemicals or hot gases, or secondarily to skin burns. The initial inflammatory phase may be followed by infection. As it passes through different phases, pneumonia may be life-threatening at any time from 1 h after exposure in a fire to several weeks after exposure.

Potency:

The toxic potency is a measure of the amount of a toxic substance required to elicit a specific toxic effect—the smaller the amount required, the greater the potency.

Psychological effects:

Psychological effects of exposure to fire scenarios are on the mind of the victim and may result in a variety of behavioral effects. These are distinct from physiological effects on body function (see above). A fire victim is likely to suffer both types of effects at various stages of a fire, and interactions between psychological and physiological effects are likely.

Psychomotor:

Psychomotor skills are required to perform behavioral tasks involving a series of coordinated movements of the type required to escape from a fire in a compartment (such as a building).

Pyrolysis:

In this chapter, the term pyrolysis is restricted to the thermal decomposition of materials without oxidation. In small-scale tests pyrolysis may be achieved by heating the material in a stream of nitrogen.

RD 50 :

Respiratory depression 50 %—statistically calculated concentration of a sensory irritant required to reduce the breathing rate of laboratory rodents (usually mice) by 50%.

Respiratory Minute Volume (RMV):

Volume of air breathed each minute (liters/minute). RMV = TV × RR.

Respiratory Rate (RR):

Respiratory frequency (i.e., number of breaths per minute).

Respiratory tract:

The nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea, and large bronchi are termed the upper respiratory tract, and the bronchiole, alveolar ducts, and alveoli are termed the lower respiratory tract.

Required Safe Escape Time (RSET) ISO definition:

Time required for escape. Calculated time period required for an individual occupant to travel from their location at the time of ignition to a safe refuge or place of safety cf. available safe escape time and evacuation time.

Shock:

A reduction in the circulating blood volume with a fall in blood pressure.

Smoke:

Total fire effluents, consisting of solid and liquid particles and vapors.

Smoldering/nonflaming oxidative decomposition:

Thermal decomposition in which there is partial oxidation of the pyrolysis products but no flame. This may result from overheating of materials by means of an external heat source or from self-sustained smoldering.

Specific toxicity:

A particular adverse effect caused by a toxicant (e.g., asphyxia, irritancy).

Supertoxicant:

A term used to describe a toxicant with an unusual specific toxicity not usually associated with fire effluents, often with a high potency.

Synergism:

Situation where the toxic potency of two or more substances acting in concert is greater than the sum of the potencies of each substance acting alone.

Tenability limit:

Maximum concentration of a toxic fire product or intensity of a physical fire parameter that can be tolerated without causing incapacitation.

Thermal decomposition:

Chemical breakdown of a material induced by the application of heat.

Tidal Volume (TV):

Volume of air exhaled in each breath.

Toxicity:

The nature and extent of adverse effects of a substance on a living organism.

Ventilation (lung):

The volume of air breathed each minute (synonymous with respiratory minute volume).

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Purser, D.A. (2016). Combustion Toxicity. In: Hurley, M.J., et al. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_62

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