New research avenues in toxicology: 7-gas N-Gas Model, toxicant suppressants, and genetic toxicology.

Three research areas -- a 7-gas N-Gas Model, toxicant suppressants, and genetic toxicology -- are presented as new research approaches in toxicology. The current 6-gas N-Gas Model predicts the toxic potency of the combustion products of materials based on the toxicological interactions of the fire gases carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), low oxygen (O2) concentrations, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen bromide. The present research includes nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in a new 7-gas model which incorporates the synergistic effects of NO2 and CO2, the antagonistic effects of NO2 and HCN, and the additive effects of NO2 with CO and low O2. The area of toxicant suppressants concerns chemicals, which when added to a material, will inhibit or reduce the concentration of a specific toxic gas normally generated during thermal decomposition of that material. The effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology when HCN generation was reduced by 90% and the resultant toxicity of the combustion products was lowered by 50% when a flexible polyurethane (FPU) foam was treated with 0.1% (by weight) cuprous oxide (Cu2O). Although melamine-treated FPU foams are being promoted as more fire safe than standard foams, a melamine-treated foam generated 10 times more HCN than a foam without melamine. The addition of Cu2O to this melamine foam also reduced the HCN generation by 90%. The genetic toxicology research entails the examination of DNA damage that results from the exposure of human cells to various environmental toxicants and gases.