International Study of the Sublethal Effects of Fire Smoke on Survivability and Health (SEFS): Phase 1. Final Report (NIST TN 1439)

Published

August 1, 2001

Author(s)

Richard G. Gann, Jason D. Averill, Kathryn M. Butler, Walter W. Jones, George W. Mulholland, J L. Neviaser, Thomas J. Ohlemiller, Richard D. Peacock, Paul A. Reneke, J R. Hall

Abstract

Fire smoke toxicity has been a recurring theme for fire safety professionals for over four decades. There especially continue to be difficulty and controversy in assessing and addressing the contribution of the sublethal effects of smoke in hazard and risk analyses. The Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and NFPA have begun a private/public fire research initiative, the "International Study of the Sublethal Effects of Fire Smoke on Survival and Health" (SEFS) to provide this scientific information for public policy makers. This report on the first phase of the project estimates the magnitude and impact of sublethal exposures to fire smoke on the U.S. population, provides the best available lethal and incapacitating toxic potency values for the smoke from commercial products, determines the potential for various sizes of fires to produce smoke yields that could result in sublethal health effects, and provides state-of-the-art information on the production of the condensed components of smoke from fires and their evolutionary changes during transport from the fire.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1439

Report Number

1439

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.tn.1439

Keywords

fire research, smoke, toxicity, toxic hazards, survivability

Citation

Gann, R. , Averill, J. , Butler, K. , Jones, W. , Mulholland, G. , Neviaser, J. , Ohlemiller, T. , Peacock, R. , Reneke, P. and Hall, J. (2001), International Study of the Sublethal Effects of Fire Smoke on Survivability and Health (SEFS): Phase 1. Final Report (NIST TN 1439), Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.tn.1439 (Accessed October 9, 2025)