ISO/TC 92/SC 3 - Fire threat to people and environment

This document is applicable to the sampling and analysis of effluents produced during fires that have the potential to cause harm through environmental contamination. It provides additional requirements to those International Standards already published by ISO TC 92/SC 3 for the sampling and analysis of fire effluents from experimental fires and standard tests, specifically as best practice from previously published methodologies. This document does not include pollutant screening of exposed humans or animals. The principle aims for the sampling and analysis of effluents from fires that can result in environmental contamination is therefore to provide information on: — the nature and concentrations of airborne effluents over time and distance; — the nature and concentrations of solid and liquid ground contaminants and “run-off” compounds from firefighting operations over time and distance. This document is principally of interest for the following parties: — environmental regulatory authorities; — public health authorities; — fire investigators; — property owners. This document is intended to be used together with ISO 26367-1 and ISO 26367-2 in assessments of the environmental impact of fire effluents.

This document assesses the utility of physical fire models that have been standardized, are commonly used, and/or are cited in national or international standards, for generating fire effluent toxicity data of known accuracy. This is achieved by using the criteria established in ISO 16312-1 and the guidelines established in ISO 19706. The aspects of the models that are considered are: the intended application of the model, the combustion principles it manifests, the fire stage(s) that the model attempts to replicate, the types of data generated, the nature and appropriateness of the combustion conditions to which test specimens are exposed, and the degree of validity established for the model.

This document describes tools and gives guidance concerning interlaboratory trials related to fire effluent analyses. It explains the relative contributions from the physical fire model and analytical techniques to evaluate trueness and fidelity. It also explains the difficulties involved with the interpretation of round-robin data and with the evaluation of trueness in fire effluent analyses. This document complements ISO 12828-1, which deals with limits of quantification and detection and ISO 12828-2, which deals with interlaboratory validation of analytical methods. It is a toolbox useful in the framework of ISO/IEC 17025 assessment of any fire laboratory. Examples of existing standards where the information contained in this document can be used are the analytical chemical methods in ISO 19701[2], ISO 19702[3], ISO 5660-1[4], and the chemical measurements in the methods discussed in ISO/TR 16312-2, ISO 16405[6], ISO/TS 19021[7], or their application to fire toxicity assessment using ISO 13571[1] and ISO 13344[8].

This document provides principles for characterizing the measured production of toxic gases from a laboratory fire test and provides bases for comparing the results between different types and scales of such tests. It also includes consideration of the uncertainties in the gas determinations. The combined uncertainty is a key factor in the ability to establish similarity or difference of test results. The sufficiency of the agreement between a bench-scale test and a real-scale test depends on the precision needed in the fire hazard or risk assessment, which is not covered by this document. This document defines the relevance and significance of toxic gas data from measurements in different fire tests. With such a definition it is possible to provide generic guidance on how such data can be compared between different sizes and types of fire tests. The combustion conditions represented by the fire test, other specific characteristics of the test and the test specimen, the sampling strategy of the fire effluents, and the analysis technique for the toxic gas species are the most important factors when defining the significance of the toxic gas data. This document is intended to serve as a tool for the a) definition of the relevance and significance of toxic gas data from fire tests, b) comparison of toxic gas data from fire tests of different scales and characteristics, and c) prediction of toxic gas data from a large-scale test based on small-scale data or vice versa. This document gives general guidance regarding comparison of toxic gas data between physical fire models of different scales, but is principally developed for the gases listed in ISO 13571, i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen halides (HCl, HBr, HF), sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2), formaldehyde (CH2O) and acrolein (C3H4O). This document is not applicable to characterization and comparisons of the toxicity of the effluents from fire tests.

This document gives guidelines whose primary focus is the assessment of the adverse environmental impact of fire effluents, including those from fires occurring in commercial and domestic premises, unenclosed commercial sites, industrial and agricultural sites, as well as those involving road, rail and maritime transport systems. It is not applicable to direct acute toxicity issues or wildland fires, which are covered by other existing ISO standards. It is intended to serve as a tool for the development of standard protocols for a) the assessment of local and remote adverse environmental impacts of fires, and the definition of appropriate preventive measures, b) post-fire analyses to identify the nature and extent of the adverse environmental impacts of fires, and c) the collection of relevant data for use in environmental fire hazard assessments. This document is intended as an umbrella document to set the scene concerning what should be considered when determining the environmental impact of fires. It is not a comprehensive catalogue of methods and models defining how to determine the environmental impact of fires, intended to be addressed by other parts of ISO 26367. This document is principally intended for use by firefighters and investigators, building owners and managers, storage facility operators, materials and product manufacturers, insurance providers, environmental regulatory authorities, civil defence organizations and public health authorities.

This document addresses the impact of wildland fires and firefighting activities on the environment (air, water, soil, wildlife and vegetation). It further addresses the impact of wildland fire effluents on exposed human population, including firefighters, as well as food production, land, sea and air traffic, and the built environment. It also describes the environmental impacts of firefighting activities. This document also provides requirements and recommendations to quantify such impacts of wildland fires and to establish post-fire mitigation measures. The wildland fires covered include both natural wildland fires and man-initiated fires, including prescribed burning and agricultural fires, but not peat fires nor coal seam fires. This document is intended to serve as a tool for the development of standard protocols for: — the assessment of local and remote adverse environmental impacts of wildland fires; — the assessment of the effects of smoke and gas exposure on firefighters and exposed human populations. It provides guidance for incident commanders and other responsible or affected parties when decisions regarding firefighting strategies, tactics, and restoration are made. It is intended principally for use by firefighters and investigators, insurance providers, environmental regulatory authorities, civil defence organisations, public health authorities and land owners. This document does not include specific instruction on compiling and reporting the information needed to assess environmental damage caused by a fire incident, nor does it include specific sampling methodologies and analysis requirements. These topics are the focus of documents in the ISO 26367 series. This document does not address either fire damage to the built environment, direct acute toxicity issues, which are covered by other ISO standards, nor does it address economic impact, although the impact of climate change is discussed in Annex D.

This document provides definitions and equations for the calculation of toxic product yields and the fire conditions under which they have been derived in terms of equivalence ratio and combustion efficiency. Sample calculations for practical cases are provided. The methods are intended to be used to produce either instantaneous or averaged values for those experimental fires in which time-resolved data are available. This document is intended to provide guidance to fire researchers for — recording appropriate experimental fire data, — calculating average yields of gases and smoke in fire effluents in fire tests and fire-like combustion in reduced scale apparatus, — characterizing burning behaviour in experimental fires in terms of equivalence ratio and combustion efficiency using oxygen consumption and product generation data. This document does not provide guidance on the operating procedure of any particular piece of apparatus or interpretation of data obtained therein (e.g. toxicological significance of results).

ISO 26367-2:2017 specifies a methodology for compiling the information needed to assess the environmental damage caused by a fire incident. This includes conducting a site reconnaissance, establishing data quality objectives and designing sampling programmes. This document also provides a standardized method for reporting the results of the compilation and findings of the analyses, for use in contingency planning or for the assessment of the potential adverse environmental impact of a specific fire incident. This document does not include specific instruction on sampling and analysis of fire effluents. Sampling and analysis are the focus of a future document in the ISO 26367 series. ISO 26367-2:2017 is applicable to uncontrolled fires, including fires in commercial and domestic premises, unenclosed commercial sites, agricultural storage sites, wildland and forest fires, as well as fires involving road, rail and maritime transport systems. ISO 26367-2:2017 focuses on the fire effluents that are environmentally significant, including pollutants causing short-term effects (e.g. pollutants causing biotope damage and components of smog) and long-term effects (e.g. persistent organic pollutants, POP). Since it is not possible to treat all potential pollutants that could be found in fire effluents in a single document, a list of those pollutants specifically addressed in this document is given below: a) pollutants with short-term effects: halogenated acids (HX), metals, nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulates, and sulfur oxides (SOx); b) pollutants with long-term effects: metals, particulates, perfluorinated compounds (PFC), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and polyhalogenated dioxins and furans (PXDD/PXDF). The reporting template provided in Annex D proposes additional potential pollutants and indicators for inclusion in the compilation. Not all of the pollutants and indicators listed in Table D.1 are relevant to every fire site, and others not mentioned in the table can apply. ISO 26367-2:2017 does not include direct acute toxicity issues on humans, which are covered by other standards, such as ISO 13344 and ISO 13571.

ISO 12828-2:2016 describes tools and techniques for use in validating the analysis of fire gases when an analytical method is developed in a laboratory. It complements ISO 12828‑1, which deals with limits of quantification and detection. The tools and techniques described can be applied to the measurement of quantities, concentrations (molar and mass), volume fractions, and concentration or volume fraction versus time analyses. Fire effluents are often a complex matrix of chemical species, strongly dependent on the materials involved in the fire, but also dependent on fire scenario parameters (see ISO 19706). With such a wide variety of conditions, the analytical techniques available will differ in terms of the influence of the matrix on the methods and on the concentration ranges which can be measured. The analytical techniques available are likely to differ significantly in several respects, such as their sensitivity to the matrix and the range of concentrations/volume fractions which can be reliably measured. For these reasons, a unique reference analytical technique for every fire effluent of interest is, in practical terms, difficult or impossible to achieve. The tools in this document allow verification of the reliable measurement ranges and conditions for the analysis of fire effluents, thereby enabling a comparison among various analytical techniques. Examples of existing International Standards where the information contained in this document can be used are the analytical chemical methods in ISO 19701, ISO 19702, ISO 5660‑1, and the chemical measurements in the methods discussed in ISO/TR 16312‑2, ISO 16405, or their application to fire toxicity assessment using ISO 13571 and ISO 13344. NOTE 1 The variable "concentration" is used throughout this document, but it can be replaced in all places with "volume fraction" without altering the meaning. This does not apply to the Annexes. NOTE 2 Concentration can be calculated from volume fraction by multiplying by the density of the relevant gas at the relevant temperature and pressure.

ISO 16312-1:2016 provides technical criteria and guidance for evaluating physical fire models (i.e. laboratory combustion devices and operating protocols) used in effluent toxicity studies for obtaining data on the effluent from products and materials under fire conditions relevant to life safety.[9] Relevant analytical methods, calculation methods, bioassay procedures and prediction of the toxic effects of fire effluents can be referenced in ISO 19701, ISO 19702, ISO 19703, ISO 19706 and ISO 13344. Comparisons are detailed in ISO 29903. Prediction of the toxic effects of fire effluents can be referenced in ISO 13571 and ISO/TR 13571‑2.

ISO/TS 19700:2016 describes a steady-state tube furnace (SSTF) method for the generation of fire effluent for the identification and measurement of its constituent combustion products, in particular, the yields of toxicants under a range of fire decomposition conditions. It uses a moving test specimen and a tube furnace at different temperatures and airflow rates as the fire model. The interlaboratory reproducibility has been assessed with selected homogenous thermoplastic materials and this document is therefore limited in applicability to such materials. The method is validated for testing homogeneous thermoplastic materials that produce yields of a defined consistency. See limitations in Clause 12.

ISO/TR 13571-2:2016 describes the practical application of ISO 13571 as a tool to evaluate effects of fire effluents on people. The method of application, performance criteria and evaluation of the impact are explained and illustrated by two families of examples: application to real-scale tests (Annex A and Annex B) and application to Fire Safety Engineering (Annex C, D and E).

ISO 13344:2015 provides a means for estimating the lethal toxic potency of the fire effluent produced from a material while exposed to the specific combustion conditions of a physical fire model. The lethal toxic potency values are specifically related to the fire model selected, the exposure scenario and the material evaluated. Lethal toxic potency values associated with 30-min exposures of rats are predicted using calculations which employ combustion atmosphere analytical data for carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2) (vitiation) and, if present, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen bromide (HBr), hydrogen fluoride (HF), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), acrolein and formaldehyde. The chemical composition of the test specimen may suggest additional combustion products to be quantified and included. If the fire effluent toxic potency cannot be attributed to the toxicants analysed, this is an indication that other toxicants or factors must be considered. ISO 13344:2015 is applicable to the estimation of the lethal toxic potency of fire effluent atmospheres produced from materials, products or assemblies under controlled laboratory conditions and should not be used in isolation to describe or appraise the toxic hazard or risk of materials, products or assemblies under actual fire conditions. However, results of this test may be used as elements of a fire hazard assessment that takes into account all of the factors which are pertinent to an assessment of the fire hazard of a particular end use; see ISO 19706. The intended use of fire safety-engineering calculations is for life-safety prediction for people and is most frequently for time intervals somewhat shorter than 30 min. This extrapolation across species and exposure intervals is outside the scope of ISO 13344:2015. ISO 13344:2015 does not purport to address all of the safety problems associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of ISO 13344:2015 to establish appropriate safety and health practices.

ISO 19702:2015 specifies requirements and makes recommendations for sampling systems for use in small and large-scale fire tests, for the selection of parameters and use of the FTIR instrument itself and for collection and use of calibration spectra.

ISO 29904:2013 provides a guide to the generation of aerosol particles in fires, defines apparatus and procedures for the sampling and measurement of aerosols, and provides procedures for the interpretation and reporting of the data. It is intended to assist fire test designers and those making measurements at unwanted fires to choose and use appropriate methods for aerosol measurement for differing hazards to people and the environment. ISO 29904:2013 identifies the scope, applicability, and limitations of each method. The interpretation of the data from these measurements is strongly dependent on the end use of the data. Fire-generated aerosols may present a direct risk of restricting escape from fire by obscuring an exit route, or they may produce chronic health and environmental hazards from chemical compounds contained in the aerosol (for example, toxic chemicals like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soot or radionuclides form nuclear plant fires.) Aerosol particles may be inhaled to various depths in the lungs, depending on their size and density, or may be released into the environment and deposited on land and in watercourses. In particular, it addresses the following aspects of aerosol generation and measurement in fires: Adsorbed/dissolved gas or vapour phase species; Physical mechanisms involved in the transport of aerosols, dispersal in the fire plume, coagulation/agglomeration leading to variation in particle sizes and fractions, "thermophoresis" (main cause of soot deposition), "diffusiophoresis" and, sedimentation. The interactions between gases and vapours and aerosol: adsorption and removal of species from gas phase, transportation of adsorbed gases into the lungs; Sampling and measurement methods, including their principles of operation, method description, the data provided, and in each case their scope, field of application, advantages and disadvantages; Metrology of the measurement methods, and in the generation of "standard aerosols", and the related uncertainties; Physiological and environmental effects of aerosols insofar as these effects can be used to define the measurement method for specific applications; and Hazards of carbon particles present in the fire effluent as visible "smoke" through their size, morphology, chemical nature, and the nature of the effluent in which they are (or were) suspended. ISO 29904:2013 is not oriented toward the aerosols generated from controlled combustion. (e.g. incineration). However, much of the material in ISO 29904:2013 is common to such aerosols.

ISO 19701:2013 presents a range of sampling and chemical analytical methods suitable for the analysis of individual chemical species in fire atmospheres. The procedures relate to the analysis of samples extracted from an apparatus or effluent flow from a fire test rig or physical fire test model and are not concerned with the specific nature of the fire test. It does not cover aerosols and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique.

ISO 13571:2012 is one of many tools available for use in fire safety engineering. It is intended to be used in conjunction with models for analysis of the initiation and development of fire, fire spread, smoke formation and movement, chemical species generation, transport and decay, and people movement, as well as fire detection and suppression. ISO 13571:2012 is to be used only within this context. ISO 13571:2012 is intended to address the consequences of human exposure to the life-threatening components of fire. The time-dependent concentrations of fire effluents and the thermal environment of a fire are determined by the rate of fire growth, the yields of the various fire gases produced from the involved fuels, the decay characteristics of those fire gases and the ventilation pattern. Once these are determined, the methodology presented in ISO 13571:2012 can be used for the estimation of the time at which individuals can be expected to experience compromised tenability. With care, this guidance can also be applied to estimation of the time limit for rescuing people who are immobile due to injury, medical condition, etc. ISO 13571:2012 establishes procedures to evaluate the life-threatening components of fire hazard analysis in terms of the status of exposed human subjects at discrete time intervals. It makes possible the estimation of the time at which occupants can experience compromised tenability. It enables estimation of a compromised tenability endpoint for each of the fire effluent components, with the most important endpoint being the earliest to occur. Although the concept of compromised tenability is consistent with the definition of incapacitation (see ISO 13943), the latter term is not used in ISO 13571:2012 due to its potentially broad interpretation to include many effects, including collapse and unconsciousness, that are not addressed. ISO 13571:2012 focuses specifically on compromised tenability as influenced by both physiological and behavioural responses resulting from exposure to a fire's life-threatening components. The life-threatening components addressed include fire-effluent toxicity, heat, and visual obscuration due to smoke. In cases where the effluent composition is available, the toxic gas model is to be used for assessment of fire-effluent toxicity. For those cases where the effluent composition is unknown, an additional mass-loss model using generic toxic potency values is provided.

This Technical Report provides information for the development of specifications and procedures aimed at limiting adverse environmental impacts caused by fire-water run-off (see References [2] to [7]). The information is applicable to commercial facilities, such as warehouses, chemical storage facilities, refineries, process plants which handle and/or store products with a potential pollution potency, and vehicles for the transport of such substances. It is only applicable to land-based operations (i.e. not oil tankers or off-shore oil drilling platforms), and to wildland fires. As such, this Technical Report provides a summary of current potential approaches for controlling and eliminating adverse environmental impacts caused by fire-fighting water run-off. It offers relevant information for the design and sizing of water basins to limit the dispersion of contaminated water into the environment at large (see References [8] to [12]). This Technical Report is divided into three main parts: a description of the hazards of fire run-off, environmental damage limitation and details concerning the possible design of water basins.

In ISO 12828-1:2007, limits of detection and limits of quantification are defined and calculated. It provides methods for determining suitable values for these two parameters for a specific analytical procedure and for a specific chemical species. It does not provide detailed guidance on methods of sampling and analysis of specific species which might be present in fire effluents. This guidance is contained in ISO 19701 and ISO 19702.

ISO 19706:2011 is intended to serve as general guidelines for the assessment of the fire threat to people. ISO 19706:2011 encompasses the development, evaluation and use of relevant quantitative information for use in fire hazard and risk assessment. This information, generally obtained from fire-incidence investigation, fire statistics, real-scale fire tests and from physical fire models, is intended for use in conjunction with computational models for analysis of the initiation and development of fire, fire spread, smoke formation and movement, chemical species generation, transport and decay, and people movement, as well as fire detection and suppression [ISO/TR 13387 (all parts)]. Aspects of the methodology described in this ISO 19706:2011 are further amplified in ISO 13571 and ISO 13344. ISO 19706:2011 is intended to facilitate addressing the consequences of a single, acute human exposure to fire effluent. ISO 19706:2011 does not address other effects of the heat, gases and aerosols, such as effects on electronic equipment and effects of frequent, multiple environmental exposures of people, which are of importance in fire safety design.

ISO 27368:2008 details analytical methods suitable for analysing the two primary toxic combustion gases, carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN), in blood samples collected from fire casualties. In blood, CO is measured as carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) and HCN as cyanide ion (CN-). Although numerous methods are reported in the literature for performing blood COHb and CN- analyses, the analytical methods included herein are based upon their suitability for performing the analysis on ante-mortem and post-mortem blood samples from fire casualties. The analytical principle, analysis time, repeatability, reproducibility, robustness, effectiveness and instruments used are considered for those methods. Some of the methods described in ISO 27368:2008 might not be suitable for analysing putrid or clotted blood. Burned (solid) blood can be analysed after homogenization.

ISO 29903:2012 provides principles for characterizing the measured production of toxic gases from a laboratory fire test and provides bases for comparing the results between different types and scales of such tests. It also includes consideration of the uncertainties in the gas determinations. The combined uncertainty is a key factor in the ability to establish similarity or difference of test results. The sufficiency of the agreement between a bench-scale test and a real-scale test depends on the precision needed in the fire hazard or risk assessment, which is not covered by ISO 29903:2012. ISO 29903:2012 defines the relevance and significance of toxic gas data from measurements in different fire tests. With such a definition it is possible to provide generic guidance on how such data can be compared between different sizes and types of fire tests. The combustion conditions represented by the fire test, other specific characteristics of the test and the test specimen, the sampling strategy of the fire effluents, and the analysis technique for the toxic gas species are the most important factors when defining the significance of the toxic gas data. ISO 29903:2012 is intended to serve as a tool for the definition of the relevance and significance of toxic gas data from fire tests, comparison of toxic gas data from fire tests of different scales and characteristics, and prediction of toxic gas data from a large-scale test based on small-scale data or vice versa. ISO 29903:2012 gives general guidance regarding comparison of toxic gas data between physical fire models of different scales, but is principally developed for the gases listed in ISO 13571, i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen halides (HCl, HBr, HF), sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2), formaldehyde (CH2O) and acrolein (C3H4O). It does not cover characterization and comparisons of the toxicity of the effluents from fire tests.

ISO 26367-1:2011 gives guidelines whose primary focus is the assessment of the adverse environmental impact of fire effluents, including those from fires occurring in commercial and domestic premises, unenclosed commercial sites, industrial and agricultural sites, as well as those involving road, rail and maritime transport systems. Its scope does not extend to direct acute toxicity issues, which are covered by other existing International Standards. It is intended to serve as a tool for the development of standard protocols for the assessment of local and remote adverse environmental impacts of fires, and the definition of appropriate preventive measures, post-fire analyses to identify the nature and extent of the adverse environmental impacts, and the collection of relevant data for use in environmental fire hazard assessments. ISO 26367-1:2011 is intended as an umbrella document to set the scene concerning what should be considered when determining the environmental impact of fires. It is not a comprehensive catalogue of methods and models defining how to determine the environmental impact of fires, intended to be addressed by other parts of ISO 26367.

ISO 19703:2010 provides definitions and equations for the calculation of toxic product yields and the fire conditions under which they have been derived in terms of equivalence ratio and combustion efficiency. Sample calculations for practical cases are provided. The methods can be used to produce either instantaneous or averaged values for those experimental fires in which time-resolved data are available.

ISO 16312-1:2010 provides technical criteria and guidance for evaluating physical fire models (i.e. laboratory combustion devices and operating protocols) used in effluent toxicity studies for obtaining data on the effluent from products and materials under fire conditions relevant to life safety. Relevant analytical methods, calculation methods, bioassay procedures and prediction of the toxic effects of fire effluents can be referenced in ISO 19701, ISO 19702 [4], ISO 19703, ISO 19706, ISO 13344 and ISO 13571.

ISO 13571:2007 is only one of many tools available for use in fire safety engineering. It is intended to be used in conjunction with models for analysis of the initiation and development of fire, fire spread, smoke formation and movement, chemical species generation, transport and decay and people movement, as well as fire detection and suppression. ISO 13571:2007 is to be used only within this context. ISO 13571:2007 is intended to address the consequences of human exposure to the life threat components of fire as occupants move through an enclosed structure. The time-dependent concentrations of fire effluents and the thermal environment of a fire are determined by the rate of fire growth, the yields of the various fire gases produced from the involved fuels, the decay characteristics of those fire gases and the ventilation pattern within the structure. Once these are determined, the methodology presented in ISO 13571:2007 can be used for the estimation of the available escape time. ISO 13571:2007 provides guidance on establishing the procedures to evaluate the life threat components of fire hazard analysis in terms of the status of exposed human subjects at discrete time intervals. It makes possible the determination of a tenability endpoint, at which time it is estimated that occupants are no longer able to take effective action to accomplish their own escape. The life threat components addressed include fire-effluent toxicity, heat and visual obscuration due to smoke. Two methods are presented for assessment of fire-effluent toxicity: the toxic-gas model and the mass-loss model. ISO 13571:2007 does not consider aspects such as the initial impact of visual obscuration due to smoke on factors affecting the time required for occupants to escape, the toxic effects of aerosols and particulates and any interactions with gaseous fire-effluent components and adverse health effects following exposure to fire atmospheres.

ISO/TS 19700:2007 describes a tube-furnace method for the generation of fire effluent for the identification and measurement of its constituent combustion products, in particular, the yields of toxic products under a range of fire decomposition conditions. The test method described in ISO/TS 19700:2007 can be used solely to measure and describe the properties of materials, products or systems in response to heat or flame under controlled laboratory conditions. It is not suitable to be used by itself for describing or appraising the fire hazard of materials, products or systems under actual fire conditions, or as the sole source on which regulations pertaining to toxicity can be based.

ISO/TR 16312-2:2007 assesses the utility of physical fire models that have been standardized, are commonly used and/or are cited in national or international standards, for generating fire effluent toxicity data of known accuracy. It does so using the criteria established in ISO/TR 16312-1 and the guidelines established in ISO/TR 19706. The aspects of the models that are considered are the intended application of the model, the combustion principles it manifests, the fire stage(s) that the model attempts to replicate, the types of data generated, the nature and appropriateness of the combustion conditions to which test specimens are exposed and the degree of validity established for the model.

ISO 19706:2006 is intended to serve as general guidelines for the assessment of the fire threat to people. It encompasses the development, evaluation and use of relevant quantitative information for use in fire hazard and risk assessment. This information, generally obtained from fire-incidence investigation, fire statistics, real-scale fire tests and from physical fire models, is intended to be used in conjunction with computational models for analysis of the initiation and development of fire, fire spread, smoke formation and movement, chemical species generation, transport and decay and people movement, as well as fire detection and suppression [ISO/TR 13387 (all parts)]. Aspects of the methodology described here are further amplified in ISO/TS 13571 and ISO 13344. ISO 19706:2006 is intended to facilitate addressing the consequences of a single acute human exposure to fire effluent. Other effects of the heat, gases and aerosols (such as effects on electronic equipment and effects of frequent, multiple environmental exposures of people), which are of importance in fire safety design, are addressed elsewhere.

ISO 16312-1:2006 provides technical criteria and guidance for evaluating physical fire models (i.e. laboratory combustion devices and operating protocols) used in effluent toxicity studies for obtaining data on the effluent from products and materials under fire conditions relevant to life safety. Relevant analytical methods, calculation methods, bioassay procedures and prediction of the toxic effects of fire effluents can be referenced in ISO 19701, ISO 19702, ISO 19703, ISO 19706, ISO 13344, and ISO/TS 13571.

ISO 19702:2005 specifies methods for the individual analysis of airborne concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen bromide (HBr), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and acrolein (CH2CHCHO). Although not specifically defined in ISO 19702:2005, as they were not specifically studied in the SAFIR project, the method presented is suitable for most gaseous species able to be analysed using the FTIR technique, including hydrogen fluoride (HF) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).

ISO 19701:2005 presents a range of sampling and chemical analytical methods suitable for the analysis of individual chemical species in fire atmospheres. The procedures relate to the analysis of samples extracted from an apparatus or effluent flow from a fire test rig or physical fire test model and are not concerned with the specific nature of the fire test.

ISO 19703:2005 provides definitions and equations for the calculation of toxic product yields and the fire conditions under which they have been derived in terms of equivalence ratio and combustion efficiency. Sample calculations for practical cases are provided. The methods can be used to produce either instantaneous or averaged values for those experimental fires in which time-resolved data are available. ISO 19703:2005 is intended to provide guidance to fire researchers in the recording of appropriate experimental fire data, the calculation of average yields of gases and smoke in fire effluents in fire tests and fire-like combustion in reduced scale apparatus, and the characterization of burning behaviour in experimental fires in terms of equivalence ratio and combustion efficiency using oxygen consumption and product generation data. ISO 19703:2005 does not provide guidance on the operating procedure of any particular piece of apparatus or interpretation of data obtained therein (e.g. toxicological significance of results).

ISO/TS 19706:2004 is to serve as general guidelines for assessment of the fire threat to people. ISO/TS 19706:2004 encompasses the development, evaluation and use of relevant quantitative information for fire hazard and risk assessment. This information, generally obtained from fire incidence investigation, fire statistics, real-scale fire tests and from physical fire models, is to be used in conjunction with computational models for analysis of the initiation and development of fire, fire spread, smoke formation and movement, chemical species generation, transport and decay and people movement, as well as fire detection and suppression (ISO/TR 13387). Aspects of the methodology described in ISO/TS 19706:2004 are further amplified in ISO/TS 13571 and ISO 13344. ISO/TS 19706:2004 is intended to facilitate addressing the consequences of a single acute human exposure to fire effluent. Other effects of the heat, gases and aerosols (such as effects on electronic equipment and effects of frequent, multiple environmental exposures of people), which are of importance in fire safety design, will be addressed elsewhere.

ISO 13344:2004 provides a means for estimating the lethal toxic potency of the fire effluents produced from a material while exposed to the specific combustion conditions of a physical fire model. The lethal toxic potency values are specifically related to the fire model selected, the exposure scenario and the material evaluated. Lethal toxic potency values associated with 30-min exposures of rats are predicted using calculations which employ combustion atmosphere analytical data for carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2) (vitiation) and, if present, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen bromide (HBr), hydrogen fluoride (HF), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), acrolein and formaldehyde. If the fire effluent toxic potency cannot be attributed to the toxicants analysed, this is an indication that other toxicants or factors must be considered. ISO 13344:2004 is applicable to the estimation of the lethal toxic potency of fire effluent atmospheres produced from materials, products or assemblies under controlled laboratory conditions and should not be used in isolation to describe or appraise the toxic hazard or risk of materials, products or assemblies under actual fire conditions. However, results of this test may be used as elements of a fire hazard assessment that takes into account all of the factors, which are pertinent to an assessment of the fire hazard of a particular end use; see ISO/TS 19706. The intended use of fire safety-engineering calculations is for life-safety prediction for people and is most frequently for time intervals somewhat shorter than 30 min. This extrapolation across species and exposure intervals is outside the scope of ISO 13344:2004. ISO 13344:2004 does not purport to address all of the safety problems associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of ISO 13344:2004 to establish appropriate safety and health practices.

ISO 16312-1:2004 provides technical criteria and guidance for evaluating physical fire models (i.e. laboratory combustion devices and operating protocols) used in effluent toxicity studies for obtaining data on the effluent from products and materials under fire conditions relevant to life safety. Reference should be made to ISO 19701, ISO 19702, ISO 19703, ISO 19706, ISO 13344, and ISO/TS 13571 for presentation of relevant analytical methods, calculation methods, bioassay procedures and prediction of the toxic effects of fire effluents.

ISO/TS 13571:2002 is only one of many tools available for use in fire safety engineering. It is intended to be used in conjunction with models for analysis of the initiation and development of fire, fire spread, smoke formation and movement, chemical species generation, transport and decay and people movement, as well as fire detection and suppression. ISO/TS 13571:2002 is to be used only within this context. ISO/TS 13571:2002 is intended to address the consequences of human exposure to the life threat components of fire as occupants move through an enclosed structure. The time-dependent concentrations of fire effluents and the thermal environment of a fire are determined by the rate of fire growth, the yields of the various fire gases produced from the involved fuels, the decay characteristics of those fire gases, and the ventilation pattern within the structure. Once these are determined, the methodology presented in ISO/TS 13571:2002 can be used for the estimation of the available escape time. ISO/TS 13571:2002 provides guidance on establishing the procedures to evaluate the life threat components of fire hazard analysis in terms of the status of exposed human subjects at discrete time intervals. It makes possible the determination of a tenability endpoint, at which time it is estimated that occupants will no longer be able to take effective action to accomplish their own escape. The life threat components addressed include fire effluent toxicity, heat and visual obscuration due to smoke. Two methods are presented for assessment of fire effluent toxicity, the toxic gas model and the mass loss model. Aspects such as the initial impact of visual obscuration due to smoke on factors affecting the time required for occupants to escape, the toxic effects of aerosols and particulates and any interactions with gaseous fire effluent components and adverse health effects following exposure to fire atmospheres are not considered in ISO/TS 13571:2002.

Provides a means for estimating the lethal toxic potency of the fire effluents produced from a material, while exposed to the specific combustion conditions of a laboratory fire model.

Describes the position of the regulator, a series of logical steps to be considered in assessing a particular fire scenario, toxic products and mechanisms of toxicity in fires, methods of toxic hazard assessment, and the recommended hazard assessment procedure.

Specifies methods for the individual analysis of airborne concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen bromide (HBr), hydrogen fluoride (HF), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and acrolein (CH2CHCHO) in fire effluents. Annex A gives examples of separation of permanent gases, annex B lists other gases of interest, and annex C describes a new method.

Defines the criteria for an acceptable fire model, reviews existing fire models ("box" furnace models, tube furnace models, radiant heat models) against these criteria, and proposes that fire models be selected for use through consideration of these criteria which includes a capacity to generate fire conditions characteristics of known stages of fire. Does not give a detailed analysis of the physics and chemistry of fire.

Reviews the progress of bioanalytical methodology, including the application of mathematical models which are available and may be used in the toxicological assessment of fire effluent atmospheres. Attention is also given to the application of such models as a means to minimize the use of laboratory animals in the testing of materials for fire effluent toxicity.

This Technical Report provides basic background information on methods suitable to define the acute inhalation toxicity of fire effluents, as generated by fire models. Contains terms and definitions.

Designed to provide essential information to all those involved with the evaluation of the toxicity of fire effluents not only in the development of meaningful test procedures but also in their use for mitigating hazards. Includes definitions and abbreviations.