Fire and Pesticides, A Review and Analysis of Recent Work

There are a number of circumstances that involve the burning of toxic materials, including pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and poisonous plant or plant products. Toxicity issues of smoke from the Anacardiaceae family and the Oleander are discussed and contrasted with that from pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and other organic materials. Work in two major European programs is reviewed. Survival fractions in smoke of 1 to 10% can be expected for some toxic compounds in fires. Survival fractions are dependent not only upon the specific toxic compound but on the fire scenario and other fuels present. Of importance, flaming combustion mat not ensure destruction of such compounds in real fire incidents.