Regulatory aspects of fire toxicology

Fire creates a complex toxic environment involving flame, heat, oxygen depletion, smoke, and toxic gases. The nature of that environment is dependent upon not only the materials present but on the fire event, that is, the fire scenario. Materials have different toxic gas profiles under different conditions; therefore, toxic fire gas generation is not intrinsic to any one material. Large fires in buildings constitute a severe toxic threat regardless of the materials being burned. In the past, building codes in the United States included the phrase, "no more toxic than wood," in reference to fire gases from building materials. Such phrases have recently been deleted, because of the lack of either an accepted definition or test methodology to assess toxicity. While several states have attempted regulatory activity, the most recent approach (taken by the state of New York) has been the establishment of a data bank on toxic potency of building and furnishing materials. The utility of such a data bank without available hazard analysis methodology is open to discussion, since toxic potency data are not directly applicable to toxic hazard assessment. A number of small-scale animal exposure tests have been developed to assess the potency of the toxic combustion products from combustible materials. Criticism of these tests relates to the relevance of the combustion module (a smoke generation apparatus) and the appropriateness of the animal model, particularly for irritant gases. Recent data from more than 2000 fire fatality cases and carbon monoxide exposure cases are discussed in this paper to help put small-scale laboratory test results into perspective. Toxicity is only one of the several fire properties related to materials. All fire parameters are interrelated, that is, they are not independent variables. Thus, predicting the toxicity of burning materials is a problem without a comprehensive solution. Measures have been taken, however, to reduce the number of fires and to reduce fire severity.