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10522 
Journal Article 
The toxicity of smoke from polymeric materials during thermal decomposition 
Alarie, Y 
1985 
Yes 
Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology
ISSN: 0362-1642
EISSN: 1545-4304 
NIOSH/00168257 
25 
325-347 
The toxicity of smoke from polymeric materials released during thermal decomposition is discussed. Synthetic polymers were introduced into the United States about 30 years ago. Although they have been instrumental in raising the American standard of living, they present serious problems when they decompose under heat. The smoke from decomposing synthetic polymers contains a variety of toxic substances including carbon-monoxide (630080), hydrogen-chloride (7647010), hydrogen-cyanide (74908), and formaldehyde (50000). Researchers have traditionally used two different approaches to evaluate lethality during exposure to smoke: the time to an effect approach (type-I) or the amount for an effect for a given duration of exposure approach (type-II). The major drawback of the type-I approach is that all the exposed animals die and taking the average time to death as a measure of toxicity is considered invalid. Type-II is regarded as a valid approach since the protocol follows basic toxicological principles. A third method that combines the methodology of type-I and type-II is described. With this method the amount of toxicant necessary to kill 50 percent (LC50) of the animals can be combined with the time necessary to kill 50 percent (LT50) of the animals in order to make a comparison among materials for both potency (LC50) and rapidity of action (LT50). Utilizing smoke toxicity data for reducing fire fatalities resulting from smoke inhalation is discussed. Criteria for applying small scale fire models and exposure systems for evaluating smoke from polymers are described. The author notes that smoke from synthetic polymers has been clearly established as being more toxic than wood smoke. Only synthetic polymers whose smoke is no more toxic than wood should be used in place of wood.