Current researches on fire retardant materials in Japan

The use of fire retardant materials is a very effective way to decrease human loss in the event of building fires. However, smoke and toxicity in a fire, which is the collateral phenomena due to fire retardant were paid more attention than the fire retardant materials themselves. This is because much damage is brought about by smoke and toxicity in a fire. Research papers on fire retardant materials are largely concerned with pyrolysis and combustion products. Twenty-eight papers are reviewed and classified into the following three categories: flame retarding mechanism and evaluation of flammability, pyrolysis and gaseous products of flame retardant materials, and development of flame retardant materials.