Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

A number of large-scale fire experiments with detailed quantitative analysisof polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) including PAH congener distributionhave been conducted by SP. This data is reviewed here and is further assessed withregard to toxicity applying a Toxic Equivalency Factor (TEF) model for estimationof cancer potential. The PAH yield data from the large-scale fire experiments is alsocompared to emission factors from other combustion sources. The study shows thatfull-scale fire experiments with different products exhibit a large variation in totalPAH yields. Fires with products containing flame retardants were shown to producethe highest yields and generally a more toxic mixture of PAHs than fires with nonflameretarded products. The distribution of individual PAH congeners is generallyquantitatively dominated by low molecular weight PAHs, whereas a small number ofmedium to high molecular weight PAHs are most important in determining the toxicityof the PAH mixture. The large-scale fire experiments indicate that fires normallyproduce orders of magnitudes higher yields compared to, e.g. modern residentialcombustion devices. The relative distribution of individual PAHs, which determinesthe toxicity of the PAH mix, is similar for the fires and open burning data studied, inthat benzo(a)pyrene and dibenz(a,h)anthracene dominate the toxicity of the mix as awhole.

McNamee, MargaretSP Technical Research Institute of Sweden (author)
Andersson, PetraSP Technical Research Institute of Sweden (author)
Lönnermark, Anders,1968-Mälardalens högskola,Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik,SP Brandteknik,MERO(Swepub:mdh)alk03 (author)
SP Technical Research Institute of SwedenAkademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik (creator_code:org_t)

In:Fire technology: Springer Science and Business Media LLC48:2, s. 513-5280015-26841572-8099

By the author/editor: Blomqvist, Per; McNamee, Margare ...; Andersson, Petra; Lönnermark, Ande ...

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