NEWS
Grenfell law suit cites Whirlpool, Arconic, Celotex
Associated Press reports that nearly 250 survivors and families of victims’ of the Grenfell tower fire have filed legal action in Philadelphia, citing Whirlpool (the manufacturer of the Hotpoint model fridge-freezer which is indicated to have started the fire, and which contained flammable insulation foam, see pinfa Newsletter n°94), cladding manufacturer Arconic and insulation manufacturer Celotex (part of Saint Gobain group). Both the cladding and the insulation product have since been taken off the market.
READ MOREFire losses in the USA in 2018
The US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has published its annual report on fire losses, showing that 1.3 million fires were reported by fire departments in the USA in 2018, resulting in over 3 600 civilian deaths, 15 200 civilian injuries and US$ 25 billion property loss.
READ MORE34 dead in California diving boat fire
33 passengers and one crew member died in a fire on the 23-metre commercial scuba-diving boat Conception (Truth Aquatics Inc.), which was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, California, 3rd September 2019.
READ MORENine dead in Odessa hotel fire
A fire in the 273 room Tokyo Star Hotel, Odessa, Ukraine, 17th August, killed nine people, reportedly by carbon monoxide poisoning.
READ MOREPrysmian in Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Prysmian Group, world leader in energy and telecom cable systems, has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, recognising environmental, social and governance performance.
READ MORETratos Queen’s Award for LSZH cables
Leading European electrical, electronic and fibre optic cables manufacturer, Tratos, is amongst the 2019 UK Queen’s Award Enterprise winners for innovation for its new Tratos JBA cable sheathing elastometric compound.
READ MOREMarket for PIN flame retardants continuing to grow
A number of new market studies predict continuing growth for flame retardant demand, particularly for PIN FRs. DataMintIntelligence predict 6.2% growth for overall FR markets worldwide 2019-2026, with increasing application in construction, E&E and generally in plastics.
READ MOREIAFSS publishes agenda for fire safety
The International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) has published (in Fire Safety Journal) its “Agenda 2030 for a fire safe world”, as a call for dialogue between fire scientists, fire engineers, regulators and funding agencies.
READ MOREKeratin from waste feathers as a PIN flame retardant
New Zealand researchers are developing a process to extract keratin from waste poultry feathers and produce a PIN flame retardant. Some 40 million tonnes (1) of chicken feathers are generated worldwide, considered as a waste.
READ MOREDissent over study on toxicity of FR furniture smoke
A study led by UCLAN UK centering on toxicity of smoke from FR furniture has led to publication by the same journal of an immediate rebuttal.
READ MOREThree times more wildfires in Europe this year
The European Commission’s (JRC Copernicus) European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) indicates that the number of wildfires occurring in the EU in 2019 (to mid August) was three times higher than the average (for the same months) for the decade 2008-2018.
READ MOREScientists scrutinise phosphorus FRs
Arlene Blum, Heather Stapleton and several other scientists from six universities in North America have published a paper comparing toxicity and exposure of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) to brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Firstly, total levels of OPFRs in water and air are compared to total PBDEs, showing to be generally higher.
READ MORENIST tests of furniture fire barriers published
Cone calorimeter tests carried out by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology into effectiveness of barrier fabrics in furniture are now published.
READ MOREEEA says plastics recycling needs action
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published two Briefings on “Resource Efficiency and Waste”, one of which specifically targets plastics recycling.
READ MORENGO questions “chemical recycling” of plastics
The environmental NGO Zero Waste Europe has published a position paper on “chemical recycling” of plastics. The NGO’s position is that chemical recycling does have “a role to play in closing the material loop and moving … up the waste hierarchy”, but that policy priorities should be firstly to reduce and reuse, and secondly to mechanical recycling.
READ MOREAdditives enabling plastics upcycling
Unlike post-industrial plastics recycling, dealing with known and homogenous materials, post consumer recycling (PCR) poses challenges because the feedstream is variable and contains a mixture of different polymers and additives, with differing processing characteristics (rheology).
READ MOREFurniture fire safety
Konrad Wilkens Flecknoe-Brown, DBI (Danish Institute of Fire & Security Technology), presented fire tests of polyurethane slabs (1.2m x 0.6m x 50mm), showing that flame spread, time to peak heat release, and peak heat release rate are all very variable and dependent on the point of ignition (edge and corner effects).
READ MOREConference paper prize winners interviews
Most of the current fire safety solutions were developed in response to and based on fire accidents that occurred in the past, often some time ago.
READ MORETomorrow’s fire safety applications
Brian Lattimer, Jensen Hughes (now with Virginia Tech), USA, summarised challenges for fire safety requirements in railways in the USA.
READ MOREEnvironment and health challenges for fire fighters
Margaret Macnamee, Lund University, presented the Fire Impact Tool (developed from the ENVECO tool), to provide decision support and training information to firefighters on LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) and ERA (local Environmental Risk Assessment) related to different fire interventions.
READ MOREInterview / vision – Colleen Wade, best paper award
The predictability of heavy timber (or mass timber) structures in fire is often given as a benefit, and while this is generally true in relation to standard fire resistance tests, it is not necessarily the case in real fire events.
READ MORENew fire safety challenges for wood products
Presentations noted the strong growth potential of wood-based materials, as a sustainable and ‘desirable’ construction material, but also the specific fire safety challenges to address.
READ MORENeed for integrated approach to fire safety
Patrick Van Hees, Lund University, underlined that fire safety is increasingly complex, with new materials and evolving building design, so that reliance on past fire scenarios is inadequate.
READ MOREFaçade fires and consequences of Grenfell
A recurrent theme at Interflam was follow-up from the Grenfell Tower fire catastrophe. (14 June 2017). Despite previous occurrences of fires in high-rise building exterior cladding, it seems this disaster was necessary for regulators to take action.
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