National Centre for Environmental Technology (NCET), Life Science & Environment Research Institute (LSERI), King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), Saudi Arabia.
National Centre for Environmental Technology (NCET), Life Science & Environment Research Institute (LSERI), King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), Saudi Arabia.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 20;770:145332. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145332. Epub 2021 Jan 22.
The gas emissions generated from fires could cause mortalities and diseases in firefighters. Gas emissions from fire contain a mixture of a wide range of organic and inorganic gases, depending on several elements that are not currently known. In this study, firefighters were equipped with portable gas detectors to measure selected organic and inorganic gases in 26 emergency fire incidents. The fire incidents were categorized as industrial or residential based on their source. The exposure of firefighters to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in residential fires was double that in industrial fires. This is probably due to the contents of the houses, as more VOCs are released from textiles and furniture. The concentration of toluene, which is widely used in cosmetics and paints in housing, was fifteen-fold higher in residential fires than industrial fires. The exposure of firefighters to inorganic gases was much higher in industrial fires than residential fires. The concentration of hydrogen chloride, which is generated from the combustion of chlorinated plastics, such as industrial pipes and cables, in industrial fires was 18-fold higher than that in residential fires. Additionally, in this study, we found that the concentration of VOCs that poses cancer and non-cancer health risk to firefighters increases in residential fire incidents to almost three times that in industrial fire incidents. Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide concentrations were higher in industrial fire incidents than in residential fire incidents. The level of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were 19-fold and 8-fold higher, respectively, in industrial fire incidents than in residential fire incidents. This study reveals that gas emissions vary widely between industrial and residential fires.
火灾产生的气体排放物可能导致消防员伤亡和患病。火灾排放气体会包含各种有机和无机气体的混合物，这取决于目前尚不清楚的一些因素。在这项研究中，消防员配备了便携式气体探测器，以测量 26 起紧急火灾事件中的选定有机和无机气体。根据其来源，将火灾事件分为工业火灾和住宅火灾。住宅火灾中消防员接触的挥发性有机化合物 (VOC) 是工业火灾的两倍。这可能是由于房屋的内容物造成的，因为更多的 VOC 会从纺织品和家具中释放出来。甲苯是一种广泛用于房屋涂料和化妆品中的化合物，在住宅火灾中的浓度比工业火灾高 15 倍。工业火灾中消防员接触的无机气体比住宅火灾高得多。在工业火灾中，由氯化塑料（如工业管道和电缆）燃烧产生的氯化氢的浓度比住宅火灾高 18 倍。此外，在这项研究中，我们发现，对消防员造成癌症和非癌症健康风险的 VOC 浓度在住宅火灾事件中增加到几乎是工业火灾事件的三倍。工业火灾事件中的硫化氢和二氧化硫浓度高于住宅火灾事件。工业火灾事件中的硫化氢和二氧化硫浓度分别比住宅火灾事件高 19 倍和 8 倍。这项研究表明，工业火灾和住宅火灾之间的气体排放差异很大。
