Flame Retardants Flame retardants refer to a class of several chemicals that are used to slow or prevent the ignition or growth of fires. A variation of different chemicals, with diverse properties and structures, are combined in different ways to suit the different types of materials to make them fire-resistant without interfering with their intended use or performance. Since the 1970’s, FRs have been and still are widely added or applied to a big variety of major consumer products.
The Types of Flame Retardants There are hundreds of flames retardants and they are usually categorized according to their chemical composition. Their chemical composition affects their physical properties such as their color and smell, and their chemical properties
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Bromine and Chlorine are the only two halogens currently used in flame retardants, making brominated and chlorinated flame retardants. These two elements have similar properties and mostly act the same way; they stop or interfere with the chemical mechanism that leads to the formation of flammable gases that ignite or sustain the flame. These FRs have a special property; they can be added to plastics and plastic foam without changing their properties.
Phosphorus
Flame retardants that contain phosphorus produce phosphoric acid when exposed to the heat of the flame. Phosphoric acid reacts with the burning material to create a thick glassy layer of carbon that protects the rest of the material from thermal degradation, slows the fire down and eventually stops it.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen containing flame retardants release stable and inert compounds like nitrogen gases which stop the fire cycle by either interfering with the flammable gases or with the thermal degradation of the burning material. Nitrogen containing FRs can also enhance the performance of phosphorus FRs when
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High exposure to flame retardants has been correlated with multiple adverse effects on the human body, including disruption of hormones produced by the thyroid gland, hindering of the immune, reproductive, and nervous system, cancer, and dangerous effects on fetal and child development. (SD, 2017)
Studies have proved that flame retardants works as antagonists for certain endocrine receptors. In other words, they bind to the receptors and hinder the hormones produces by the body from binding to them. The hormones therefore do not have an effect. (Eskenazi, 2017)
Another study measured the levels of flame retardants in both mothers’ prenatal and their children’ serums, and found that high concentrations of flame retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers were associated with a poorer attention than normal, slower cognitive development, and motor coordination difficulties. (Hamers, 2017)
In addition to their many adverse effects on the human body, flame retardants also represent a hazard to the environment. They have similar effects on other animals as they do on humans. Even after certain types of flame retardants’ production was stopped after the discovery of their dangerous effects, they are still being detected in the environment, and are therefore still disturbing the ecosystem. (Guigueno,
Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are. Prevention is the key to society these days and is definitely an important factor in saving lives. If more lives can be saved as well as land and wildlife, prescribed burns may be the better way to go about forest fires. Although, prescribed burns are better for the environment in order to prevent drastic forest fires, severe damage to timber and extreme death of wildlife; some people feel it affects the health of a firefighter too much and it causes too many long term effects.
For the first phenomena, he noted how all combustions involved the formation of fire or light. With that in mind, Lavoisier also observed that this combustion occurs only through dephlogisticated air / pure air. Other airs (e.g. carbon dioxide) act as a fire extinguisher similar to that of water. Another combustion phenomenon he outlined was how the weight of the burnt material directly relates to the amount of air used in the reaction. Moreover, he also described how certain substances turn into acids after it has been burn...
Chemical pollution into the environment can cause both genotypic and phenotypic changes in many organisms, including humans. More specifically, environmental pollutants like BPA can act as xenoestrogens (estrogen imitators), ultimately affecting hormonal activity and production in an organism. This alteration in activity and production can be termed as endocrine disruption. The endocrine system regulates a variety of processes responsible for growth and development, including gonadal formation and function, digestion, metabolism, sex differentiation, and embryonic development (reviewed by Flint et al., 2012). Chemicals that interfere with the function or structure of the endocrine system can be defined as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).
Smoking is an addiction that many people have, and it is a very dangerous addiction. However, what if it was revealed that something else could be as dangerous as smoking? A long term study conducted at Salinas Valley showed that pesticides could be as harmful to the lungs as cigarette smoke.
During recent years, numerous newspaper and magazine articles have suggested that humans may be at risk because small amounts of well known environmental contaminants, such as dioxin, PCBs and DDT, can affect hormone levels. Hormones are produced by the endocrine system as regulators of biological function in target organs. Because hormones play a critical role in early development, toxicological effects on the endocrine system often have an impact on the reproductive system. The term endocrine disruptor is used to describe chemicals that can mimic hormones and may either enhance or counteract their effects. It has been suggested that these hormone changes can, in turn, lead to a variety of health problems including cancer, decreased fertility, and abnormalities in newborns.
There are many factors that are integrated into the successful development of a child from Prenatal growth into toddlerhood. Teratogens (outside factors) have a great impact on the babies’ inutero development. Some outside factors like second-hand smoke, smog, or fumes from cleaning chemicals can cause negative effects on the child inside the womb. A few major affects from teratogens could result in low birth weight, head circumference, slow physical growth as well as an effect on mental, behavioral and motor skills (Berk, 2003). The environment around the mother provides many of these outside factors affecting the baby’s growth. But the main link to teratogens during the gestation period is most likely the mother. Daniel S. Messinger and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 2.8% of pregnant women admitted to using illicit drugs during their pregnancy (1996). Through illicit drug use, tobacco use and alcohol use, the mother disrupts her baby’s growth with possibly permanent damage.
Reinhardt, Timothy E. Monitoring firefighter exposure to air toxins at prescribed burns of forest and range biomass. Portland: Forest Service, 1991.
NASA decreased the prevalence of flammable material inside the Command Module (Moskowitz, 2012). Along with the removal of flammable material, NASA also ensured that the materials inside the spacecraft were less, if at all, flammable (Moskowitz, 2012). NASA substituted many materials with less flammable, more protective material and included a portable fire extinguisher in the spacecraft (“APOLLO 1 The Fire,” n.d.). A specific example of this substitution is the use of a wire insulation that has a coating “so fire-resistant that it can't burn even when put in a pure oxygen environment” (Moskowitz, 2012, paragraph 13). As noted previously, the atmosphere in the spacecraft being one hundred percent oxygen was an important factor in the spreading of the fire. To solve this issue, NASA performed flammability tests which led them to the conclusion that having a mixture of sixty percent oxygen and forty percent nitrogen in the module’s atmosphere would reduce the chance of an Apollo 1 repeat happening (“APOLLO 1 The Fire,” n.d.). This mixture would be less flammable than the one hundred percent oxygen atmosphere, but the one hundred percent oxygen atmosphere could still be used as the spacecraft left Earth’s atmosphere without the risk of combustion (“APOLLO 1 The Fire,” n.d.). This led to NASA adopting a method where they slowly replaced the
...and MEA. These chemicals are said to be linked with breast cancer, skin rashes, estrogenic, hormone disruptor, linked to liver and kidney cancer, and irritates the eye.
Many chemicals are used in packaging, storage, and processing of foodstuffs. These chemicals might have a long term effects on the human body. Most of these chemicals are inert and would lead to long term effects.
Extensive research has gone into the study of benzene in the body and unfortunately, early warning signs mimic less severe issues such as heat exhaustion or carbon monoxide exposure. It is imperative that workers who are susceptible to benzene exposure be aware of the warning signs and should be the duty of first line supervision to make this information available. Long term health effects of benzene exposure are real and present. The real danger from long term exposure of benzene is on the blood. Benzene causes damaging effects in bone marrow and causes a decrease in red blood cells, leading to anemia. It can also cause the thinning of blood, leading to excessive bleeding and can suppress the immune system, increasing the chance for infection.
Fire extinguishers are portable fire equipment which plays a vital role in any place since there are under circumstances that fire fighters are not absolutely essential wherein extinguishers are capable to fight the fire.
American Lung Association). Also, when burned, cigarette smoke creates chemicals that affect our planet. “At least 50 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous” (What's in a Cigarette? American Lung Association). The American Lung Association goes on and lists a few of the chemicals and gives a brief example of what they are used for.
These fuels include coal, oil products such as gasoline, and natural gas. Use of these fuels has a number of harmful health and environmental effects. According to the World Health Organization, outdoor air pollution, most of it from burning fossil fuels, especially coal kills at least 800,000 people each year and causes health problems for tens of millions of others. Technology is available to reduce such air pollution, but using it is costly and results in higher fuel
The idea of using water as one of the method in controlling fires has existed decades ago (Poon, 2013). The fire sprinkler system has found its use in both