Fire Testing

53. Toxicity test in accordance with NES 02-713
Measuring a fume from a material exposed to a controlled fire conditions gives an indication of the fumes which may be produced in a real fire situation. A standard method of test for determining the toxicity of materials under fire condition is Defense Standard NES 02-713- Toxicity. This method gives the level of toxicity of the fumes produced from the material under test. During the test, the test specimen is heated via direct flame application at 1150°C.
The flame is applied via a bunsen burner with a flame height of between 100m and 125mm formed with a methane gas and an external supply of compressed air. The specimen toxicity is determined from accurate preanalysis weight (4pp) colorimetric tubes and ion chromatography. The test may determine the following species: Hydrogen Bromide, Hydrochloric Acid, Hydrogen Fluoride, Formaldehyde, Nitrous gases, Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Acrylonitrile, Phenol, Hydrogen Sulphide, Sulphur Dioxide, Hydrocyanic Acid, Ammonia. The concentration in ppm for each gas detected are provided. The toxicity
index of the speciments summates the toxic gases, taking into account of their level of danger to humans. The smaller the toxicity index, the better the product. A limit of 5 is often applicable.