Toxic gaseous products of thermal decomposition and combustion of natural and synthetic fabrics with and without flame retardant

The results of studies on the toxicity of the gas products of thermal decomposition and combustion of natural and synthetic fabrics, as well as the influence of flame retardants (FR) on the emission of toxic products from fabrics are presented. Thermal decomposition and combustion were investigated according to the Polish standard PN-88/B-02855 that is not essentially different from the method described by the German standard DIN 53436. These gas products evolved from untreated and FR-treated fabrics were subject to quantitative analysis, in order to determine environmental toxicity. They included carbon monoxide and dioxide as well as nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide. In order to evaluate the toxic properties of gas products emitted during thermal decomposition of the above fabrics, calculations were performed to determine specific emission of the toxic products as well as toximetric indices that relate results of analytical methods to those obtained by laboratories specializing in biological methods. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.