Hazards of combustion products: Toxicity,opacity, corrosivity,and heat release: The experts' views on capability and issues

The science of understanding how fires burn and how heat smoke and gases are generated and affect people has progressed substantially in the last half century. The principles of facility design for life safety in fires have reached a degree of maturity. Standards and code provisions for fire detection, suppression and control have become the norm. Real‐scale (or nearly real‐scale) test methods for the flammability of furnishings and interior finish have been established. In addition, some tests have been developed that measure the results of the burning of a small sample from the finished product. Yet, while there have been numerous small‐scale apparatuses developed for assessing the generation of heat, toxic gases, and visible or corrosive smoke, these facets of life and property safety have not found widespread inclusion in building and fire codes. There has been an invigorated effort in ISO TC92 SC3, Fire Threat to People and the Environment, to develop a coherent and comprehensive set of fire safety standards and guidance documents for life safety. Smaller efforts are ongoing within some national and regional standards bodies. In November 2008, experts in this field gathered at The Royal Society in London to hear papers that captured the state of the art and to discuss where we might go from here. This paper summarizes the papers and the discussion from that meeting. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.