Reduced combustion efficiency of chlorinated compounds, resulting in higher yields of carbon monoxide

A series of experiments involving the combustion of inherently fire‐retarded compounds has been performed using the DIN 53 436 furnace. Six chlorinated compounds comprising four pesticides, an organic solvent, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) have been investigated with the focus on the combustion efficiency expressed as the CO₂/CO ratio in the fire effluent. It was found that increased chloride content in a compound resulted in decreased CO₂/CO ratio. The correlation was found to be \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \sqrt {{\rm CO}_{\rm 2} /{\rm CO}} = 0.61 \times ({\rm Cl/C)}^{- {\rm 1}} + 0.13 $\end{document}. The results indicate higher concentrations of CO in the fire effluent from chlorinated compounds than from wood. Together with a release of HCI this could result in an increased toxic potency. The overall toxic hazard may or may not be increased, since (inherently) fire‐retarded materials tend to have an improved fire performance.