Letters to the Editor
DEPARTMENTS
Toxicity Concern
Rosslyn, Va.
Your June editorial on toxicity was right on target. We do indeed need more intensive research to determine what gases are killing and injuring citizens and firefighters in a fire environment.
Products should be tested and proven safe in the laboratory before they are brought to market. It is time to stop using precious human lives as the testing ground for the toxicity of products.
One year ago, toxicity was seldom mentioned in the press. Today, thanks to forward-looking magazines such as Fire Engineering, toxicity is becoming the issue of the 1980’s in the fire service.
At the same time, it is important to separate hard facts from diversionary tactics. Plastics do bum at least twice as fast, at least twice as hot and give off up to 500 times as much toxic products as conventional materials. Plastics are also abundantly present in every phase of our modern society. You quote a toxicologist who states that “depending on thermal conditions, silk or wool will produce more hydrogen cyanide than some plastics.” That type of statement tends to cloud the true problem of toxicity. People are dying from toxic gases produced in fires. How much wool or silk do you find in the average home, hotel room or public meeting hall? Wool, which is used primarily in carpeting, is known to be difficult to ignite. Let’s look at the toxicity problem in an honest and open manner.
Gordon Vickery, President
The Foundation for Fire Safety
Help Requested
Mt. Sterling, Ken.
I have started to reorganize the training program in our department. The only problem is the lack of money to buy the training books, etc. If anyone has any type of training materials, lesson plans or anything that could be helpful, I would appreciate the help.
Robert A. Clayton
Training Officer, Montgomery County Fire Dept., 27 W. High St., Mt. Sterling, Ken. 40353.