Toxicity in the Rat of Smoke Produced by Combustion of Aircraft Audio Cable Insulation
Abstract
The combustion toxicity of three audio cable jacketing materials (polyether polyurethane, thermoset rubber, and thermoset rubber with a flame retardant additive) was investigated by burning known amounts of the insulation materials in a modified FAA exposure system. Douglas Fir was used as a positive control and to provide calibration with other experiments. The FAA exposure system was modified to allow introduction of clean air at the termination of the smoke exposure. Two nonlethal measurements of performance loss in Fisher 344 rats were made using this apparatus. First, the time to unconsciousness was measured as the time from the introduction of smoke to the time at which the animal was unable to walk on the moving surface of a running wheel. Time to recovery was determined as the difference between the time of smoke removal to the time that the animal was able to walk in response to moving the wheel. Results of this study indicate that at low smoke exposures, time to incapacitation is dependent on the material burned, but at higher exposure levels, the material dependency disappeared. Time to recovery is also dependent on the material burned, but this measure was less precise than the time to incapacitation. One of the materials, polyethylene polyether, was observed to be pulmonary irritant under the exposure conditions used in this experiment
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 31, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA273641
Entities
People
- J. Rossi
- Jared Rivera
- M. S. Buring
- R.l. Carpenter
- T.k. Narayanan
Organizations
- Naval Medical Research Center