New Approaches to Toxicity: A Seven-Gas Predictive Model and Toxicant Suppressants

Two new research approaches in combustion toxicology are: 1. the prediction of smoke toxicity from mathematical equations, which are empirically derived from, experiments on the toxicological interactions of complex fire gas mixtures and 2. the use of toxicant suppressants in materials or products to prevent the formation of toxic combustion products. The predictive approach consists of burning materials using a bench-scale method that simulates realistic fire conditions, measuring the concentrations of the primary fire gases--CO, CO2, low O2, HCN, HCl, HBr, and NO2--and predicting the toxicity of the smoke using either the 6- or 7-gas N-Gas Model. These models are based on the results of toxicological studies of these primary gases as individual gases and as complex mixtures. The predicted toxic potency is checked with a small number of animal (Fischer 344 male rats) tests to assure that an unanticipated toxic gas is not generated or an unexpected synergistic or antagonistic effect has not occurred. The results indicate if the smoke from a material or product is extremely toxic (based on mass consumed at the predicted toxic level) or unusually toxic (based on the gases deemed responsible). The predictions based on bench-scale laboratory tests have been validated with full-scale room burns of a limited number of materials of widely differing characteristics chosen to challenge the system. The advantages of this new approach are 1. the number of test animals is minimized by predicting the toxic potency from the chemical analysis of the smoke, 2. smoke may be produced under conditions that simulate the fire scenario of concern, 3. fewer tests are needed, thereby reducing the overall cost of the testing and 4, information is obtained on both the toxic potency of the smoke and the responsible gases. The N-Gas Models have been developed into the N-Gas Method (described in this paper) and these results have been used in computations of fire hazard. The 6-Gas Model is now part of the international standard ISO 13344 approved by 16 member countries of the International Standards Organization (ISO) and is also included in the U.S. national standard ASTM E1678 approved by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). In addition, the 6-Gas Model is used in the American National Standard--NFPA 269--approved by the National Fire Protection Association (Quincy, MA). The second new research approach, toxicant suppressants, examines the potential of chemical compounds, which when added to a material, to inhibit or reduce the concentration of a specific toxic gas normally generated during the material's thermal decomposition. The effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) when HCN generation was reduced by 90% and the resultant toxicity of the combustion products was lowered by 50% when a flexible polyurethane foam (FPU) was treated with 0.1% (by weight) cuprous oxide (Cu2O). Copper and cupric oxide (CuO) also reduced the HCN generation but were not as efficient as Cu2O. Although melamine-treated FPU foams are being promoted as more fire safe than standard foams, a melamine-treated foam generated 10 times more HCN than a foam without melamine. The addition of Cu2O to this melamine foam also reduced the HCN generation by 90%.