Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

It is known that the exposure to toxic gases and smoke is the major cause of injury and death in fires. This research investigates in vitro cytotoxicity test for toxicity assessment of fire effluents. Three different human cells and cultures were used: liver (HepG2), lung (A549) and skin fibroblasts. Two different exposure modes were developed: impinger and direct method for exposure of human cells to fire combustion products. The later technique utilized a membrane (SnapwellTM inserts) for growing the human cells, which were placed on the Harvard/Navicyte Horizontal Diffusion Chamber. The MTS in vitro cytotoxicity assay (Promega) was adopted for cell viability assessment. A laboratory small-scale fire test using a vertical tube furnace was developed for the generation of combustion products. Preliminary studies using carbon dioxide gas showed a reduction in cell viability using the two exposure modes. These results indicate the potential to determine the fire hazard of materials and products under different fire conditions and the impact of these toxic emissions on human cells