Date: Wednesday, 25th February 2026 Time: 16:00-17:45 Location: Manchester Technology Centre
An AECB Greater Manchester Group in-person event featuring Richard Hull. His talk focuses on material composition and fire conditions influence the toxicity of the smoke for a range of construction products.
The rapidly increasing use of plastics in construction has changed the fabric of buildings from essentially non-combustible to one where they contribute to the fire load. When such products burn on a small-scale, they produce mostly carbon dioxide and water, but in larger fires, which are almost always ventilation-controlled, the toxicity of the smoke rapidly increases, dominated by carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.
Most fire deaths, and most fire injuries (and all the deaths inside Grenfell Tower) are attributed to inhalation of toxic smoke, yet this is completely unregulated outside the mass transport industries. The talk will describe how the material composition and fire conditions influence the toxicity of the smoke for different ranges of construction products.
Details and booking information via Eventbrite
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