Fire-resistant coatings
cut down the toxicity
of the smokes
Firewall fire-retardant coatings create a barrier that limits the combustion of the support. How do the additives inside the formulas behave against an intense heat source? They trigger chemical processes to release water, lowering the temperature on the product. At the same time, these coatings remove oxygen from the flames, producing carbon dioxide.
In some cases they create a vitrified barrier. In others, the coating film swells considerably (intumescence), producing a compact foam.
The task of fireproof charges is to interrupt the self-powered combustion cycle, reducing the speed of the chemical and/or physical reactions that take place in one or more of their steps. The last effect of a flame decelerating agent, regardless of its mechanism of action, is to reduce the speed of heat transfer to the polymer below the minimum value required for the self-supply of combustion.
The inhibitors
of the flames
The problem comes out when these effective fire-fighting additives begin the process of inhibiting flames and combustion by releasing toxic substances. The best flameproof products are the largest producers of toxic and corrosive gases. We know for sure that the most of fire victims are due to smoke rather than fire (from 55 to 75%).
Unfortunately, only some standards consider the analysis of the toxicity of the smokes, some tests only evaluate the quantity of smokes emitted, or their opacity.
All Firewall fire-resistant systems eliminated from their formulas every substance with halogen basis, limiting the phosphatic fillers and using mainly nitrous fillers.
