By federal law, the interior of these vehicles are required to contain flame retardants, or chemicals that make it harder for them to combust in a crash.These chemicals have been a legally mandated part of modern cars since the 1970s, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) passed a law requiring their use.It’s arguable how effective this protection is.Patrick Morrison, of the International Association of Firefighters, said in a statement on the study that these chemicals do little to prevent blazes — but instead simply make them “smokier and more toxic.”
If you are burning a hydrocarbon, which includes wood as well as fossil fuels, what you're doing is oxidizing a chemical made of of hydrogen (H) and carbon (C). Since you're combining that with oxygen (O), the main -- almost the sole -- byproducts of combustion are going to be water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). If combustion is not complete, you'll also get carbon monoxide (CO), which unlike the other two is toxic because it blocks your blood's absorption of oxygen by combining with the hemoglobin instead of oxygen (O2).
All these additional chemicals get into the smoke and cause a cancer risk, as well as other risks. Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) is especially deadly because it bonds to your hemoglobin even more effectively than CO, meaning that you can go home feeling a little woozy and die in your sleep. It'll look like you over-exerted yourself at the fire and had a heart attack, but what really happened was that progressive oxygen starvation killed you by causing organ failure. This is why anyone who dies within 24 hours of fighting a fire is considered to have died in the line of duty by law, to make sure families aren't denied compensation just because the firefighter went home apparently safe and sound.
Cancer is a longer-term problem, and one we're learning more and more about. Getting some of these chemicals out of our homes and cars is an important start on addressing the issue.
Have you had any training on electric car fires?
ReplyDeleteWe haven’t, no, but we’ve discussed the need. There aren’t many trainers qualified for that around here. There also aren’t many electric cars, but you will see a Tesla every now and then.
DeleteI suspect there are way too many chemicals that we are reliant on that are carcinogenic when burned to do anything about, really. Probably more effective to address the issue on the human intake end rather than the fuel end.
ReplyDelete