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Characterisation of fire smoke emissions from fire retardant wood

Arinaitwe, Evalyne LU ; Rex, Johannes LU ; Wilkens, Konrad LU orcid ; Malmborg, Vilhelm LU orcid ; Pagels, Joakim LU and McNamee, Margaret LU (2024) 4th European Symposium on Fire Safety Science, ESFSS 2024 In Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2885(1).
Abstract

Fire retardants are extensively used to reduce the flammability (combustibility) of wood–based construction materials in an effort to improve fire safety of buildings. However, little is known of the composition and potential risks to human health of smoke emissions produced from combustion of fire retardant treated wood. To help understand the risk to human health, fire smoke emissions produced from three different wood materials; wood without fire retardant, fire retardant wood, and aged fire retardant wood were analysed. The materials were exposed to a heat flux of 50 kW/m2 in a cone calorimeter according to ISO standard 5660-1. The fire gases and soot, measured as equivalent black carbon (eBC), produced were quantified... (More)

Fire retardants are extensively used to reduce the flammability (combustibility) of wood–based construction materials in an effort to improve fire safety of buildings. However, little is known of the composition and potential risks to human health of smoke emissions produced from combustion of fire retardant treated wood. To help understand the risk to human health, fire smoke emissions produced from three different wood materials; wood without fire retardant, fire retardant wood, and aged fire retardant wood were analysed. The materials were exposed to a heat flux of 50 kW/m2 in a cone calorimeter according to ISO standard 5660-1. The fire gases and soot, measured as equivalent black carbon (eBC), produced were quantified using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and an aethalometer, respectively. Our findings show that fire retardant wood produces substantially less soot mass than non-fire- retardant wood. However, the fire retardant wood produces more toxic gases, e.g. HCl, than both the wood without fire retardant and aged fire retardant wood.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
façade material, fire retardant wood, smoke emissions, wood construction
in
Journal of Physics: Conference Series
volume
2885
issue
1
article number
012033
pages
6 pages
publisher
IOP Publishing
conference name
4th European Symposium on Fire Safety Science, ESFSS 2024
conference location
Barcelona, Spain
conference dates
2024-10-09 - 2024-10-11
external identifiers
  • scopus:85212140508
ISSN
1742-6588
DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/2885/1/012033
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.
id
eb7a07d2-be7e-4846-a374-5ae1ee223429
date added to LUP
2025-12-11 09:20:18
date last changed
2025-12-15 10:43:04
@article{eb7a07d2-be7e-4846-a374-5ae1ee223429,
  abstract     = {{<p>Fire retardants are extensively used to reduce the flammability (combustibility) of wood–based construction materials in an effort to improve fire safety of buildings. However, little is known of the composition and potential risks to human health of smoke emissions produced from combustion of fire retardant treated wood. To help understand the risk to human health, fire smoke emissions produced from three different wood materials; wood without fire retardant, fire retardant wood, and aged fire retardant wood were analysed. The materials were exposed to a heat flux of 50 kW/m<sup>2</sup> in a cone calorimeter according to ISO standard 5660-1. The fire gases and soot, measured as equivalent black carbon (eBC), produced were quantified using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and an aethalometer, respectively. Our findings show that fire retardant wood produces substantially less soot mass than non-fire- retardant wood. However, the fire retardant wood produces more toxic gases, e.g. HCl, than both the wood without fire retardant and aged fire retardant wood.</p>}},
  author       = {{Arinaitwe, Evalyne and Rex, Johannes and Wilkens, Konrad and Malmborg, Vilhelm and Pagels, Joakim and McNamee, Margaret}},
  issn         = {{1742-6588}},
  keywords     = {{façade material; fire retardant wood; smoke emissions; wood construction}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Journal of Physics: Conference Series}},
  title        = {{Characterisation of fire smoke emissions from fire retardant wood}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2885/1/012033}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1742-6596/2885/1/012033}},
  volume       = {{2885}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}