Title: Development of a risk-based Combustion Toxicity Index for engineering materials

Authors: Siby John, Mahesh Chander

Addresses: Department of Civil (Environmental) Engineering, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh – 160 012, India. ' Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), DRDO, New Delhi, India

Abstract: The various types of modern materials widely used in engineering works possess high risk of combustion. During combustion of these materials, toxic gases of varying concentrations are generated. Inhalation of toxic combustion products is the major cause of death during fires. Increased knowledge of the combustion products and their toxicity could decrease the risks. This paper describes the development and validation of a Combustion Toxicity Index (CTI) that can be used to compare the toxicity risk of engineering materials on combustion. Quantitatively, the results were in good agreement with literature data. However, the application of the CTI is limited to a relative ranking system for comparison of toxicity risk of engineering materials.

Keywords: combustion toxicity index; engineering materials; risk assessment; toxicity risks; toxic gases.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2010.035068

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2010 Vol.6 No.3/4, pp.356 - 363

Published online: 02 Sep 2010 *

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