BRITISH STANDARD BS ISO/TR

9122-6:1994

Implementation of
ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

Toxicity testing of fire

effluents —
Part 6: Guidance for regulators and
specifiers on the assessment of toxic
hazard in fires in buildings and
transport

ICS 13.220.50; 71.040.40

BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

Committees responsible for this

British Standard

The preparation of this British Standard was entrusted by Technical

Committee FSH/16, upon which the following bodies were represented:

British Cable Makers Confederation

British Electrical Systems Association (BEAMA Ltd.)
British Plastics Federation
British Railways Board
British Rigid Urethane Foam Manufacturers’ Association
British Rubber Manufacturers Association Ltd.
British Textile Technology Group
Chemical Industries Association
Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association
Consumer Policy Committee of BSI
Department of Health
Department of the Environment (Building Research Establishment)
Department of Trade and Industry (Consumer Safety Unit, CA Division)
International Wool Secretariat
Loss Prevention Council
Queen Mary and Westfield College
RAPRA Technology Ltd.
Warrington Fire Research Centre

This British Standard, having

been prepared under the
direction of the Consumer
Products and Services Sector
Board, was published under the
authority of the Standards
Board and comes into effect on
15 December 1996 Amendments issued since publication
© BSI 10-1998 Amd. No. Date Comments

The following BSI references

relate to the work on this
standard:
Committee reference FSH/16
Draft for comment 91/48432 DC

ISBN 0 580 26096 8

 BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

Contents

Page
Committees responsible Inside front cover
National foreword ii
Foreword ii
1 Scope 1
2 Background 1
3 Position of the regulator 3
4 Steps to be considered 3
5 Toxic products and mechanisms of toxicity in fires 4
6 Methods of toxic hazard assessment 5
7 Recommended hazard assessment procedure 6
Annex A (informative) Bibliography 8

© BSI 10-1998 i
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

National foreword

This British Standard reproduces verbatim ISO/TR 9122-6:1994 and implements

it as the UK national standard. It is related to PD 6503-1:1990 which is the UK
adoption of ISO/TR 9122-1:1989. When ISO/TR 9122-1:1989 is revised, it is
intended that it will be implemented as the UK national standard.
The Technical Committee had earlier decided not to implement ISO/TR 9122-2 as
the UK national standard but to publish a national document (PD 6503-2)
instead. PD 6503-2:1988 remains current until the 1990 edition of
ISO/TR 9122-2 is revised when it is envisaged that the new edition of
ISO/TR 9122-2 will be implemented as a British Standard.
To avoid any further confusion, the decision has been made to implement all the
remaining Parts of the ISO/TR 9122 series as British Standards rather than
producing national documents as further Parts of PD 6503.
This British Standard is published under the direction of the Consumer Products
and Services Sector Board whose Technical Committee FSH/16 has the
responsibility to:
— aid enquirers to understand the text;
— present to the responsible international committee any enquiries on
interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep UK interests informed;
— monitor related international and European developments and promulgate
them in the UK.
NOTE International and European Standards, as well as overseas standards, are available from
Customer Services, BSI, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL.
A British Standard does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a
contract. Users of British Standards are responsible for their correct application.
Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity
from legal obligations.

Summary of pages
This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i and ii,
the ISO TR title page, page ii, pages 1 to 8 and a back cover.
This standard has been updated (see copyright date) and may have had
amendments incorporated. This will be indicated in the amendment table on
the inside front cover.

ii © BSI 10-1998
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide
federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of
preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical
committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee.
International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with
ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical
standardization.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards, but
in exceptional circumstances a technical committee may propose the publication of
a Technical Report of one of the following types:
— type 1, when the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of
an International Standard, despite repeated efforts;
— type 2, when the subject is still under technical development or where for any
other reason there is the future but not immediate possibility of an agreement
on an International Standard;
— type 3, when a technical committee has collected data of a different kind from
that which is normally published as an International Standard (“state of the
art”, for example).
Technical Reports of types 1 and 2 are subject to review within three years of
publication, to decide whether they can be transformed into International
Standards. Technical Reports of type 3 do not necessarily have to be reviewed until
the data they provide are considered to be no longer valid or useful.
ISO/TR 9122-6, which is a Technical Report of type 2, was prepared by Technical
Committee ISO/TC 92, Fire tests on building materials, components and
structures, Subcommittee SC 3, Toxic hazards in fire.
This document is being issued in the type 2 Technical Report series of publications
(according to subclause G.4.2.2 of part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives) as a
“prospective standard for provisional application” in the field of toxicity testing of
fire effluents because there is an urgent need for guidance on how standards in this
field should be used to meet an identified need.
This document is not to be regarded as an “International Standard”. It is proposed
for provisional application so that information and experience of its use in practice
may be gathered. Comments on the content of this document should be sent to the
ISO Central Secretariat.
A review of this type 2 Technical Report will be carried out not later than two years
after its publication with the options of: extension for another two years;
conversion into an International Standard; or withdrawal.
ISO/TR 9122 consists of the following parts, under the general title Toxicity testing
of fire effluents:
— Part 1: General;
— Part 2: Guidelines for biological assays to determine the acute inhalation
toxicity of fire effluents (basic principles, criteria and methodology);
— Part 3: Methods for the analysis of gases and vapours in fire effluents;
— Part 4: The fire model (furnaces and combustion apparatus used in
small-scale testing);
— Part 5: Prediction of toxic effects of fire effluents;
— Part 6: Guidance for regulators and specifiers on the assessment of toxic
hazards in fires in buildings and transport.
Annex A of this part of ISO/TR 9122 is for information only.

ii

1 Scope
This part of ISO/TR 9122 is intended to provide
guidance for the regulator and specifier on the
assessment of toxic hazards in fires in buildings and
transport. This is done by describing a series of
logical steps to assess a particular fire scenario.
2 Background
The life threat hazard from fires continues to be a
source of concern in many countries[1]. Of major
concern is exposure to toxic gases which together
with heat and visual obscuration from smoke are
responsible for the majority of deaths and serious
injury in fires. The increasing use of novel materials
and innovative design in buildings and transport
vehicles and their contents, can create new potential
hazards as well as new opportunities for the
reduction of hazard. There is therefore a great need
for effective methods for the assessment of life
threat hazard and its regulation. This has
stimulated wide ranging research over many years
whose aim has been to understand the nature and
biological effects of fire effluent atmospheres and
provide guidance on the mitigation of their effects.
© BSI 10-1998
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994
2.1 Regulatory use of data from small-scale
toxicity tests
The initial thrust internationally was to develop a
small-scale test for toxic potency of materials which
could be used by regulators, specifiers and fire
safety practitioners in much the same way as other
small-scale fire tests have been used for the control
of materials. This perceived need for small-scale
toxic potency tests arose from concern about the
increasing incidence of fire deaths resulting from
smoke exposure. There was a feeling that the most
important factor in toxic hazard was the toxic
potency of combustion products and that modern
materials evolved products which had a much
greater toxic potency than traditional materials.
This fear was increased by the discovery of a small
number of materials evolving products with an
unusually high toxic potency in small-scale tests.
These concerns led to pressure for small-scale tests
to measure the toxic potency of combustion products
so that materials could be ranked and on that basis,
“bad” materials could be identified. Experience with
these tests over many years coupled with a growing
understanding from research of the life threatening
properties of “real” fires has resulted in the general
consensus that such small-scale test data
independent of other fire performance data, are
insufficient for assessing life threat hazard. Also,
examples of unusually high toxic potency have
proven to be rare and in most fires the major toxic
effects are known to be caused by a small number of
well known products. It follows that attempts to
regulate on the basis of toxic potency values alone
such as those required to be submitted by the State
of New York (U. Pitt test[2]), or to specify materials
based upon unrealistic tests such as the NES713[3]
or controls based solely upon elemental composition
of synthetic materials[4] may be considered
counterproductive.
The main limitations of small-scale tests are:
a) the tests do not address the problem of the rate
of fire growth and toxic product generation which
are essential in toxic hazard assessment;
b) the decomposition conditions used in the tests
are easily relatable to those existing in actual
fires;
c) some methods do not utilize animals, but rely
solely on chemical analytical data. As far as can
be determined with the current state of
knowledge, such data can never be
comprehensive in assessing toxicity;
d) for toxic potency tests using animals, the LC50
end point (a measure of lethal exposure
concentration) is too simplistic; sublethal effects
which might prevent escape from fire should also
be considered;
1
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994
e) the tests do not normally allow the testing of
materials in their end-use configuration, i.e. as
composites or in conjunction with other
materials;
f) the tests are not capable of addressing the
environmental aspects of fires which may
influence escape and therefore the overall
hazard, i.e. building design and fire protection
measures;
g) the use of data from animals (mostly rodents)
can be regarded as representing effects on
humans only to the extent that the rat is
correlated with humans as a biological system.
Failure to allow for differences between species
may introduce errors with respect to important
aspects of fire atmosphere toxicity in human
subjects.
2.2 Importance of fire growth characteristics
in toxic hazard assessment
It is now recognised that data from small-scale
toxicity tests are useful in toxic hazard assessments
in conjunction with other input data on fire growth
characteristics. The most important variable in the
development of toxic hazard in fires is the rate of fire
growth and the rate of evolution of the common fire
gases. The point in any fire when a victim becomes
incapacitated or dies therefore depends strongly
upon the growth curve of the fire and the points in
time where an incapacitating or lethal dose of
products has been inhaled.
This is not to say that toxicity is no longer a
problem, since it is the toxic effects that ultimately
cause incapacitation or death in the majority of
fires, and it is therefore important to know what will
cause toxic effects in order to predict the potential
hazard in any particular fire. Also, toxicity data for
individual materials can be used to screen for rare
products of unusually high toxic potency, and to
improve the accuracy of fire performance
predictions based upon hazard assessments. It
follows that an individual material can be assessed
in terms of its contribution to toxic hazard only as
part of a system rather than in isolation. Its
suitability will depend on its contribution to the
overall ignition and growth characteristics of fires
as well as the toxic potency of its products. This has
led to the development of models which combine
several aspects of life threat for the overall
assessment of hazard and a code of practice
approach rather than the use of simple pass/fail
criteria.
2 © BSI 10-1998
2.3 Integrated assessment methods
These methods require a detailed analysis of given
scenarios. The stages of hazard development need to
be determined, enabling a series of logical steps to
be identified and used as a basis for a hazard
assessment of particular scenarios. Within these
steps there are still areas for which it is possible to
give only general advice, and where assumptions
have to be made. Ongoing and future research is
aimed at improving capabilities in these areas.
The magnitude of the toxic, or more completely the
life threat, hazard depends upon the complex
interaction of many parameters, starting with an
ignition source and ending with possible toxic or
other hazards affecting potential victims present in
the system. When a system is designed, it is
necessary to consider the effects of all these
component parameters in assessing the overall life
threat hazard.
The toxic hazard in any fire becomes predictable if
two sets of information are known:
a) the time/concentration profiles of the
important toxic products in the fire;
b) the time/concentration/toxicity relationships of
these products in humans.
The first set of data may be obtained from
mathematical modelling of fire growth using
small-scale test results as input data, or from
large-scale fire test results. The second set of data is
derived from toxicity studies of combustion products
and individual fire gases in animals and humans.
This approach is the basis of toxic hazard
assessment methods being developed in
ISO/TC 92/SC3, and in BSI Publication DD180[5], in
the National Institute for Standards and
Technology Hazard 1.1 models[6] and in the Fire
Research Station “ASKFRS” model[7].
There are many ways in which the development of
life threat hazard may be controlled. Historically,
the main approach to fire control has been to control
the ignition and flame spread properties of
materials and other factors relating to the
structural design of buildings and transport
systems. The implementation of these measures has
resulted in some control of the development of life
threat hazard.

3 Position of the regulator
While existing regulations already contribute to fire
safety in occupied buildings and transport, the
specific problem of toxic hazard (the major cause of
death and serious injury in fires) is yet to be fully
addressed.
Regulation can be achieved through the application
of voluntary codes of practice. This has the
advantage that it is flexible both in its application
and in that it does not inhibit continued
development of assessment methodology.
However, regulation becomes necessary when
consensus to conform to standards voluntarily can
no longer be maintained. The realities of the market
place can lead to unsafe practices which can only be
controlled in a fair and effective manner by
regulation. For a regulatory system to be defensible
and effective however, it must satisfy certain basic
principles. Any regulation must be enforceable, such
that those responsible for its implementation can be
satisfied that materials and products meet approved
standards based on relatively expedient tests and/or
criteria.
The essential features are:
a) an argued and defensible case for regulations;
b) a scientifically valid basis for the
quantification and qualification of the identified
hazards;
c) precision and clarity in the way in which the
regulations are intended to be applied;
d) practical and relatively simple methods for
enforcement, i.e. rapid and inexpensive tests.
If any of these features is not met, then the
regulations themselves could be discredited.
Therefore, regulators are heavily dependent upon
the expert not only to identify the problem for which
the regulation is necessary, but also to provide the
most practical tests to provide information upon
which the implementation will be based.
4 Steps to be considered
In applying this clause, the user will require access
to particular information for each scenario being
assessed. For some steps, general guidance on
sources of information is given, while for others
specific information is provided on toxicity and toxic
hazard assessment in clauses 4 and 5.
© BSI 10-1998
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994
4.1 Definition of system and likelihood of
possible fire scenarios
4.1.1 Definition of the circumstances
Before a hazard assessment can be made, it is
necessary first to make a detailed assessment of the
use of the building or transport system in terms of
type and number of occupants and activities carried
out. In addition, the provision of warnings and
escape procedure should be recorded. The contents
and their location should be defined, particularly
with reference to the local environment. The
different fire scenarios which could occur should be
selected. Loss patterns and life threats related to
experience and historical data should be identified
and examined.
4.1.2 Assessment of the likelihood of each
chosen scenario occurring
A three-tier assessment is suggested, i.e. “likely to
occur”, “unlikely to occur” and “very unlikely to
occur”.
4.2 Toxic hazard analysis for chosen scenarios
The toxic hazard in any fire depends upon:
a) the time/concentration profiles of the
important toxic products in the fire representing
the dose of toxicants to which a potential victim
may be exposed;
b) the toxicity of the products and in particular
the exposure dose required to cause toxic effects.
4.2.1 Description of fire growth
The first essential in assessing the toxic hazard
presented by a particular fire is to determine the
exposure dose of toxic products delivered to a
potential victim over a period of time during the fire.
This has two major elements from which the
exposure dose can be calculated:
a) the fire growth curve in terms of the mass loss
profile of the burning materials and the volume
into which the products are dispersed;
b) the yields of the different toxic products.
During the early local growth, the fire can be
smouldering or flaming, and information on the
initial behaviour can be obtained from standardized
reaction to fire tests and from special tests related to
the situation under consideration. For the later
stages, as a flaming fire grows into a developed fire,
large-scale tests can be used to provide information.
Mathematical modelling also becomes a more
practical possibility during the later stages, for the
calculation of fire growth and transport of toxic
products.
3
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994
4.2.2 Determination of the toxic potency of the
products
The next item of information required is the toxic
potency of the products, i.e. the exposure dose
needed to cause toxic effects. This is discussed in
this subclause, and more detailed guidance is given
in ISO/TR 9122-5[8].
In practice, the exposure dose in a particular
scenario will depend upon a number of factors such
as:
a) fire growth and yield of toxic products;
b) size of fire compartment and ventilation;
c) routes of spread of toxic products, distribution,
dilution and loss of products prior to inhalation;
d) building or compartment features e.g. fire
alarms, active fire suppression systems, smoke
control systems;
e) nature of passive fire protection, i.e. fire
resistance rating of vertical and horizontal fire
separations and burning characteristics of
surfaces;
f) position of occupants relative to the fire and
means of escape;
g) exposure time and time required for escape.
4.2.3 Calculation of toxic hazard
Once the exposure dose and toxic potency have been
determined, it is possible to calculate the time when
potential victims will have received an
incapacitating or lethal exposure to toxic products
in the fire. This can then be compared to the time
required for escape. Where an assessment of full life
threat hazard is being performed, the effects of heat
exposure and visual obscuration by smoke must also
be considered.
5 Toxic products and mechanisms of
toxicity in fires
Combustion products cause incapacitation and
death in fires by two main mechanisms — narcosis
and irritancy.
4 © BSI 10-1998
5.1 Effects of narcotic gases
Narcotic gases affect the brain and circulatory
system, causing confusion followed by loss of
consciousness and death depending upon the
exposure dose inhaled. The only narcotic gases
found to be important in fires are CO, HCN, CO2
and low oxygen. The effects of these gases on
humans and the ways in which they interact are
reasonably well known. Also it has been found that
incapacitation becomes significant at a well defined
endpoint, when a victim passes from a near normal
to an unconscious state following a brief period of
confusion[9]. It is therefore possible to develop
effective mathematical models based upon data
obtained from humans and other primates[9], to
predict when a victim will become incapacitated in a
fire due to the effects of narcotic gases, if the
concentration/time curves for these gases in a fire
are known. Details of such models are given in
ISO/TR 9122-5[8].
5.2 Effects of irritants
Irritant fire products have two principal effects:
a) they cause immediate painful sensory
stimulation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs;
b) they cause lung inflammation and oedema
which may lead to death due to impairment of
respiration, usually a few hours after exposure.
Irritant effects during a fire lie on a continuum from
mild eye irritation to severe eye and respiratory
tract pain, and ultimately death during or after
exposure. All fire atmospheres are irritant and
contain many irritating chemical species. Some
twenty of so have been identified in combustion
product atmospheres, and there is evidence that
other, unknown, irritant species are also present[9].
For these reasons the irritancy of combustion
product atmospheres cannot, as yet, be predicted
fully from even a comprehensive chemical analysis,
and the only way to estimate irritancy is by animal
exposure. Two test parameters can be used in
rodent tests; sensory irritancy can be estimated by
measuring the RD50 (the concentration causing
a 50 % decrease in breathing rate in mice) and lung
irritation by measuring the LC50 in terms of the
concentration causing postexposure deaths due to
lung damage. However, care must be taken in using
rodent data to predict effects in humans[9].

5.3 Variations in yields of narcotic and irritant
products under different fire conditions
The yields of different narcotic and irritant products
from even an individual material in a fire can vary
greatly depending upon the thermal decomposition
conditions under which it is decomposed. It is
therefore very important in any small-scale test
using chemical analysis of combustion products, or
using direct animal toxicity measurement, that the
decomposition conditions are similar to those of the
fire being modelled. It is also important to
understand that no small-scale test can model the
changing conditions of growth and development
occurring in large-scale fires.
5.4 Effects of visual obscuration by smoke and
exposure to heat
In addition to the effects of narcotic and irritant
products, consideration also needs to be given to the
effects of visual obscuration by smoke, which
reduces escape efficiency or renders a victim
unwilling to enter a smoke-filled escape route, and
of heat which initially hinders or prevents escape
due to skin pain and burns or hyperthermia, and
can cause death either during or after exposure.
6 Methods of toxic hazard assessment
There are essentially two types of method which can
be used for assessing toxic fire hazard:
a) from a battery of small-scale tests on
individual materials or composite samples, the
results of which are used as inputs to
mathematical fire models, or from simple
large-scale tests where only mass loss or heat
release rates are measured. The essential
components are
1) the toxic potency data for the materials
(lethal mass loss exposure dose) obtained from
small-scale combustion toxicity tests using
animal exposures (or increasingly from
calculation methods using chemical analytical
data from small-scale toxicity tests),
2) the mass loss/concentration curve for the
fire, obtained from a combination of
small-scale tests and mathematical fire
models, or from simple large-scale tests;
b) from large-scale fire tests which include
measurements by chemical analysis of the
concentration/time profiles of the major toxic fire
gases and smoke particulates. These are
combined with existing knowledge of the toxicity
of these gases and particulates derived originally
from human and animal exposures.
© BSI 10-1998
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994
The advantages of the first approach are that it can
be based upon small-scale test data alone, and that
when animal exposures are used it is possible to
detect any unusual toxic effects which cannot be
predicted from a solely chemical analysis of
combustion products. The reliance on animal
exposure data can be considered a disadvantage of
the first approach in some countries. However, with
the advancing knowledge in this field, the need for
animal experimentation is decreasing, so that in
many cases a toxic potency estimation can be based
upon analytical data from small-scale experiments.
The advantage of the second approach is that the
concentration/time curves for the toxic fire products
are measured directly, and data based upon the
effects of exposure of humans can be used to
calculate time to incapacitation or death.
In practice, for a full analysis of any given scenario,
it is preferable to use data from both of these
approaches in making a hazard assessment, but the
methods used will depend upon the data available
and the type of hazard assessment required.
The aim of both types of methods is to calculate the
fractional effective dose (FED) of toxic products
presented to potential victims during the fire. This
is achieved by calculating the exposure dose
received each minute during the fire and expressing
it as a fraction of the dose required to cause
incapacitation or death. These FEDs are then
summed until a time is reached when the fraction
reaches unity, and incapacitation or death is
predicted to occur. Details of the procedures used to
calculate FEDs are presented in ISO/TR 9122-5[8].
Applications of the these methods in toxic hazard
assessments are described in the following
subclauses.
6.1 Toxic hazard assessment based on mass
loss exposure dose toxicity data
6.1.1 Simple assessment using a single mass
loss exposure dose toxic potency figure for all
materials
The simplest form of toxic hazard assessment could
be based upon mass loss concentration data for the
fire and an average value for the toxic potency of
combustion products from materials considered to
be of “normal” toxicity. In practice, this would
include nearly all common materials. Examples of
such methods are presented in British Standard
Institution (BSI) Publication DD180[5], and in
National Institute for Standards and Technology
(NIST) Publication 827[10]. In BSI DD180, a value
of 500 g·m–3·min is suggested for lethality
and 200 g·m–3·min for incapacitation. The NIST
publication takes a similar approach and suggests a
value of 900 g·m–3·min for lethality
and 300 g·m–3·min for incapacitation.
5
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994
6.1.2 Toxic hazard assessment based upon
mass loss exposure dose toxicity data allowing
for differences in toxic potency between
different materials and different fire types
In practice, there are differences between the toxic
potencies of the combustion products from different
materials, and for individual materials the toxic
potencies vary with the decomposition conditions in
different types of fires. It is also necessary to make
provision for materials of “unusual toxic potency”
for which the toxic potency is greater than that of
most materials. For this more sophisticated form of
assessment potency factors can be used to allow for
deviations in toxic potency from the general potency
figure. Depending upon the type of hazard
assessment being performed, the potency factors
could be obtained in a number of ways:
a) from a toxic potency database for materials of
different general types in different types of fire;
b) from toxic potency data obtained from specific
small-scale combustion toxicity tests performed
on the materials under investigation. The toxic
potency data could be derived from
1) chemical analysis of the combustion
products and calculation of the likely toxic
potency, on the basis that only a few major
toxic products are important in causing toxic
effects,
2) a combination of 1) with limited animal
exposures to determine the approximate lethal
exposure dose, to allow for possible effects
additional to those of the few major toxic
products.
These data on the mass loss exposure doses required
to cause incapacitation or death can then be used as
input data to the hazard assessment model.
6 © BSI 10-1998
6.2 Toxic hazard assessment based mainly on
chemical analytical data on the
concentration/time profiles of toxic products
measured in large scale fire tests, and existing
knowledge of the toxic effects in humans and
animals
As with 6.1.2 b) 1), this type assessment is based
upon the concept that only a few major products are
important in causing toxic effects in fires. Time to
incapacitation or death by narcosis can be well
predicted from existing data without the need for
further animal exposures, although prediction of
irritant effects is somewhat less precise. This
method enables the best possible assessment of the
likely effects in humans, and it does not require
animal tests to be performed (although the
assessment is improved by the input of some
empirical small-scale toxic potency data for the
materials involved in the fire). The method requires
a basic set of data to be measured in large scale fire
tests, or calculated from engineering data, including
the time/concentration profiles of the CO, CO2,
HCN, O2, acid gases (e.g. HCl, NOx), total
hydrocarbons or organic irritants (e.g. acrolein),
total particulate matter and smoke optical density.
Details of all the methods described in clause 6 are
presented in ISO/TR 9122-5[8].
7 Recommended hazard assessment
procedure
The recommended procedure for conducting toxic
hazard assessments is as follows.
7.1 Identify the fire scenario of concern, and the type
of fire (smouldering, growing/pre-flashover, fully
developed) together with its characteristics.
7.2 Small-scale toxic potency tests could be
performed on the materials to be assessed (using
chemical analysis with or without animal
exposures) under relevant thermal decomposition
conditions at this point or later in the analysis.
 BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

7.3 Possible end-use fire scenarios should be

constructed in terms of mass loss concentration,
and/or gas concentrations, smoke optical density,
heat radiation and temperatures. A good scheme for
assessing the hazards presented by a large range of
materials in end use configurations would consist of
a range of small-scale material fire performance
tests coupled with mathematical modelling of
predicted large-scale fire behaviour. This should be
performed on each material for product comparison,
and lead to a limited number of large-scale tests to
confirm predictions from small-scale test data.
These test should include measurements of mass
loss concentration and the concentrations of the
major toxic agents (CO, HCN, CO2, low O2, acid
gases, irritant organics and smoke particulates) and
cover a small range of common fire types. It is
important that any tests are conducted under
conditions relevant to the identified fire scenario.
7.4 The potential hazards to life associated with
these scenarios should then be modelled using one
or more of the toxic hazard assessment models
ranging from the simple average mass loss toxic
potency model to models using toxic potency factors,
or concentration/time toxic gas profiles and
estimates of time to incapacitation of humans, as
required.

© BSI 10-1998 7
BS ISO/TR 9122-6:1994

Annex A (informative)
Bibliography
[1] ISO/TR 9122-1:1989, Toxicity testing of fire effluents — Part 1: General.
[2] New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, Article 15, Part 1120, Combustion Toxicity
Testing and Regulations for Implementing Building Materials and Finishes; Fire Gas Toxicity Data File.
New York State, Department of State, Office of Fire Prevention and Control, Albany, NY 12231
(December 16, 1986).
[3] Naval Engineering Standard Test 713, Determination of the Toxicity Index of the Products of
Combustion from Small Specimens of Materials. UK Ministry of Defence, Ship Department Section
D191 (1981).
[4] French decree (arrêté) of 4 November 1975, amended 1 December 1976, governing the use of synthetic
materials containing nitrogen and chlorine.
[5] British Standards Draft for Development DD180. Guide for the Assessment of Toxic Hazards in Fire in
Buildings and Transport. British Standards Institution, 1989.
[6] PEACOCK, R.D. et al., Technical Reference Guide for the Hazard I Fire Hazard Assessment Method,
Version 1.1., NIST Handbook 146, Volume II, US Government Printing Office, 1991.
[7] CHITTY, R. and COX, G., ASKFRS — A Fire Engineering Calculator. Building Research Establishment,
Fire Research Station, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 2B1, UK Ref. AP46.
[8] ISO/TR 9122-5:1993, Toxicity testing of fire effluents — Part 5: Prediction of the toxic effects of fire
effluents.
[9] PURSER, D.A., Toxicity Assessment of Combustion Products. In: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection
Engineering, C.L. Beyler Ed. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA. (1988), Part 1, pp. 200-245.
[10] BABRAUSKAS, V. et al., Toxic Potency Measurement for Fire Hazard Analysis. NIST Special
Publication 827. US Government Printing Office, 1991.

8 © BSI 10-1998
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