Characterization of fire products from organophosphorus pesticides using the DIN 53436 method

Fires in warehouses containing chemical substances such as pesticides occur frequently causing harm to humans and the environment due to the toxic fire effluents generated and dispersed with the fire plume. It is very difficult to assess the potential risks, since only limited documentation exists concerning the quantities and nature of these toxic products. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop methods to characterize the fire products from fires involving chemical substances. This paper describes a series of experiments carried out in order to evaluate the combustion products from three organophosphorus pesticides (dimethoate, azinphos-methyl, and parathion-methyl) using the DIN 53436 method. The concentrations of the combustion gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen cyanide have been determined and the organic combustion products have been identified.