Evaluation of potential toxicity of smoke from controlled burns of furnished rooms – effect of flame retardancy

ABSTRACT

It has been reported that incorporation of fire retardants into home furnishings and electronics increases the toxicity of smoke produced during combustion in house fires. Studies have been limited to exercises in analytical chemistry but the biological effects of emissions, particularly regarding chronic toxicity, have not been investigated. The combustion of furnishings with and without chemical flame retardants (FR) regarding (1) ignition resistance and fire progression, (2) chemical composition of smoke (analytical chemistry), and (3) toxicity was compared. Data demonstrated that flame retarded furnishings slowed the generation of toxic levels of acutely toxic gases. The potential chronic toxicity of smoke was assessed using the ToxTracker® assay. Smoke samples from rooms with less flame retarded furnishings exhibited a lesser response in this assay than smoke samples from rooms with flame retarded furnishings. Chemicals associated with activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), namely benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, were not found in smoke from more flame retarded furnished rooms, but were present only in smoke from rooms with less flame retarded furnishings. In conclusion, smoke resulting from combustion of flame retarded furnishings did not increase indicators of potential chronic toxicity hazards relative to non-flame retarded furnishings.

KEYWORDS:

• Aryl hydrocarbon receptor
• chronic toxicity
• flame retardants
• smoke toxicity
• ToxTracker®

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the laboratory efforts of L. Higgins, L. Chatham, and F. Zhang with respect to the Ah Receptor assay conducted at Concept Life Sciences in Dundee, UK.

We acknowledge the North American Flame Retardant Alliance (a panel under the auspices of the American Chemistry Council), who funded the research and the production of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

This work was funded by the American Chemistry Council’s North American Flame Retardant Alliance (NAFRA). T. Osimitz and W. Droege are employed by Science Strategies, LLC, a health and environmental sciences consulting firm that consults to the American Chemistry Council, which funded the production of this manuscript. M. Blais is employed by Southwest Research Institute, a nonprofit research institute that consults with the American Chemistry Council, which funded the production of this manuscript. G. Hendriks is the CEO of Toxys B.V., a Dutch biotech company that provides in vitro toxicity screening solutions to a variety of companies, including members of the American Chemistry Council. Toxys B.V. was paid for their work on this project by the American Chemistry Council.

The American Chemistry Council had no control of the experimental design or the results reported in this article or any influence on where this article was submitted for publication.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (WD) upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. It is of note that the United States uses several methods to assess the fire performance of furniture. California Technical Bulletin 117 and 133 are the two most widely recognized regulations regarding the flammability of upholstered furniture in the U.S. Furniture in the U.S. for other states is often tested to these regulations. There is currently no national standard for the assessment of flammability of furniture.

2. A wooden crib, made of dry wood stacked in a lattice formation weighing 17 g, was used as the ignition source.

3. measured as opacity in m²/second and integrated over time resulting in the unit m²

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclose receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the American Chemistry Council’s North American Flame Retardant Alliance (NAFRA) [grant number not applicable].