Smoke hazards from burning plastics

Smoke hazards to people and property from unwanted fires have attracted increasing attention. The use of plastics in construction, furnishings, clothing, and recreational and transportation equipment has increased. Actual fire experiences indicate that organic materials, whether natural or man-made, will burn; those with large surface areas such as films, fabrics, or foams will ignite readily and burn rapidly. Addition of fire retardants to the plastic structure will inhibit ignition, surface flame spread, and combustion products with undersirable properties. Among these are increased smoke density and carbon monoxide production. Studies indicate that certain fire retardant plastic combinations yield very toxic products when exposed to heat such as might be encountered in a fire. Therefore, smoke from fire in a confined space involving these fire-retarded systems must be regarded as quite hazardous if smoke is defined in a larger sense than from the historical viewpoint.