Smoke toxicity task force
Departments
Dispatches
In an effort to save lives and reduce injuries, the country’s three leading fire protection organizations have joined forces to respond to public concerns about smoke toxicity.
The three groups—the United States Fire Administration (USFA), the Center for Fire Research of the National Bureau of Standards (CFR/NBS), and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)—have come up with an approach that is outlined in “The National Response to Public Concerns About Smoke Toxicity.”
The group’s initial objectives are to:
- Review the suitability of a national smoke toxicity screen test;
- Develop a national fire and smoke toxicity hazard data base;
- Investigate the cause of death and injury from smoke;
- Establish joint support of a national smoke toxicity campaign.
A group of toxicologists and fire scientists assembled by NBS met in February to review the first topic: the suitability of available smoke toxicity test methods. These tests would be used to screen products for “extreme toxic potency or unusual toxicological response,” according to CFR Director Jack Snell, who chaired the task group.
At the meeting, which focused on the technical, not policy or political issues concerning smoke toxicity, the group unanimously concluded that “a toxicity screen test cannot and should not be used to rank materials or measure fire hazards; and (they) recommend that if a screen test is considered necessary, either the University of Pittsburgh or the NBS toxicity test methods can—with several specific provisions—be used to screen products for extreme potency.”
The task force is meeting again this spring to address their second objective: the establishment, testing, and implementation of a smoke toxicity hazard data base. The CFR will develop a methodology for estimating the fire and smoke toxicity hazard, which should be available this October.
If you want to receive a copy of the group’s first report on smoke toxicity test methods; or submit comments, observations, or recommendations to the group’s upcoming discussion topics, write to: Arthur E. Cote, Assistant Vice-President, Standards, NFPA, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269.