FLAME/SMOKE TESTS & LEAD CONTENT

RELATIVE TOXICITY TABLES

FLAME/SMOKE TESTS & LEAD CONTENT

*VERTICAL BURNING TEST (U.L. 94)

Polywood^® has a rating of V-0. V-0 is the least flammable rating that any product can achieve. A rating of V-0 means the part will self-extinguish when flame source is removed.

For Underwriters Laboratories Inc. Test UL 94 Vertical Burning test. This test determines the upward burning characteristics of a solid of a given thickness.
 

**SURFACE BURNING CHARACTERISTICS (E-84 TUNNEL TEST)

Polywood has a flame spread rating of 14.3. This qualifies as Class A, the best possible qualification for a product tested in the internationally recognized UL E-84 Tunnel Test. The benchmark for comparative purposes is Red Oak which is rated at 100.

**For Underwriters Laboratories Inc. test UL 723 (E-84 Tunnel Test) Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials. This test determines the comparative burning characteristics of a material by evaluating the spread of flame over its surface and the density of smoke developed when exposed to a test fire.

POLYWOOD^® CONTAINS NO LEAD

This information has been gathered from various independent sources

RELATIVE TOXICITY TABLES

SCREENING MATERIALS FOR RELATIVE TOXICITY IN FIRE SITUATIONS

Results of screening tests of materials for relative toxicity under specific sets of conditions are presented. Variations in the material, in lab animals, and in the test presently permit identification of major rather than minor differences among materials. Correlation with relative performance in real fire situations is based on a limited number of comparisons.

Studies of fire victims in New York City and in Maryland showed that carbon-monoxide poisoning was a major factor in fire deaths and in failures to escape from fires. The extent to which gases other than carbon monoxide increase the toxic threat in fires depends on the chemical composition of the material and on the many variables in an actual fire. No two fires are exactly alike, and the "typical" or "real" fire may never be defined to the satisfaction of a majority of those concerned. In the meantime there is a continuing need for apparatus and procedures to provide measures of the relative toxicity of all products.

The following list has been condensed to materials more commonly used in the commercial building industry.

In reviewing these numbers, the higher the value the better the product.

TABLE 1: Relative Toxicity of Materials