Campus Firewatch Radio: Fire Retardants and Firefighter Safety
In this edition, host Ed Comeau investigates the use of fire retardants in furnishings and their impact upon the environment and the health and safety of firefighters when the products are encountered.
With the explosive growth of environmental awareness, a much closer look is being given to the use of fire retardants. Are we creating a potentially bigger problem from the chemical exposure than we are solving? In other words, are more people being sickened and killed through the chemical exposure than are potentially dying in fires? Another significant factor is the exposure to fire fighters when these chemicals are burned.
Join Ed Comeau as he talks with John Dean, president of the National Association of State Fire Marshals and the Maine State Fire Marshal. We will also be talking with Richard Duffy, assistant to the general president for Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine at the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Please send any suggestions, questions or comments, to: podcast@firehouse.com
Related Links
• Fire retardants – benefit or danger?
• Initiative for Green Science Policy
• National Campus Fire Safety Month
• Campus Fire Safety Education Program “To Hell and Back: College Fire Survival”
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y’know, that’s something i’ve never thought about… with the wonderful safety that fire retardant chemicals provide, what are the other dangers associated with the chemicals that we don’t even see?? are they toxic to breathe? do they cause harm to the environment during manufacturing?
i think i missed the interview but am off to go look for answers to my question anyways… thanks!
One more area where fire retardants are used liberally is in industrial cables, especially those used in hazardous areas. These cables re normally specified to be of FRLS PVC (FRLS standing for Fire Retardant Low Smoke). The low smoke is really useful while fighting fires, but I do not know what kind of gases are released, if any. Probably the gases have more to do with the burning of the PVC rather than just the fire retardant.
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