Reconciling chemical flame retardant exposure and fire risk in domestic furniture.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence suggests that standards for resistance of furniture to ignition may lead to an increase in use of chemical flame retardants (CFRs). This is motivating the development of new approaches that maintain high levels of fire safety while facilitating a reduction in use of CFRs. However, reconciling potential fire risk with use of CFRs in relation to specific policy objectives is challenging. OBJECTIVES: To inform the development of a new policy in the UK for the fire safety of furniture, we developed for domestic furniture quantitative models of fire risk and potential for CFR exposure. We then combined the models to determine if any lower fire risk, higher CFR exposure categories of furniture were identifiable. METHODS: We applied a novel mixed-methods approach to modelling furniture fire risk and CFR exposure in a data-poor environment, using literature-based concept mapping, qualitative research, and data visualisation methods to generate fire risk and CFR exposure models and derive furniture product rankings. RESULTS: Our analysis suggests there exists a cluster of furniture types including baby and infant products and pillows that have comparable overall properties in terms of lower fire risk and higher potential for CFR exposure. DISCUSSION: There are multiple obstacles to reconciling fire risk and CFR use in furniture. In particular, these include a lack of empirical data that would allow absolute fire risk and exposure levels to be quantified. Nonetheless, it seems that our modelling method can potentially yield meaningful product clusters, providing a basis for further research.

Datura quids at Pinwheel Cave, California, provide unambiguous confirmation of the ingestion of hallucinogens at a rock art site.

While debates have raged over the relationship between trance and rock art, unambiguous evidence of the consumption of hallucinogens has not been reported from any rock art site in the world. A painting possibly representing the flowers of Datura on the ceiling of a Californian rock art site called Pinwheel Cave was discovered alongside fibrous quids in the same ceiling. Even though Native Californians are historically documented to have used Datura to enter trance states, little evidence exists to associate it with rock art. A multianalytical approach to the rock art, the quids, and the archaeological context of this site was undertaken. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results found hallucinogenic alkaloids scopolamine and atropine in the quids, while scanning electron microscope analysis confirms most to be Datura wrightii Three-dimensional (3D) analyses of the quids indicate the quids were likely masticated and thus consumed in the cave under the paintings. Archaeological evidence and chronological dating shows the site was well utilized as a temporary residence for a range of activities from Late Prehistory through Colonial Periods. This indicates that Datura was ingested in the cave and that the rock painting represents the plant itself, serving to codify communal rituals involving this powerful entheogen. These results confirm the use of hallucinogens at a rock art site while calling into question previous assumptions concerning trance and rock art imagery.

Environmental contamination following the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Grenfell Tower fire in central London, started within a flat, engulfed the whole 24 storey building in flames, killed 72 people and spread toxic effluent via the plume and particulate deposits. Soil samples from 6 locations up to 1,2 km from the Tower, together with semi-burnt fire debris and char samples, were collected 1 and 6 months after the fire. Additionally, dust samples and condensates were collected from a flat 160 m away from the Tower after 17 months. Samples were analysed for common potentially toxic components of fire effluents and synthetic vitreous fibres. Samples collected within 140 m of the Tower showed, amongst other toxicants, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin concentrations 60 times greater than UK urban reference soil levels; benzene levels were 40 times greater; levels of 6 key polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were approximately 160 times greater. PAHs levels are approximately 20 times greater than those reported from nearby Hyde Park before the fire. To explain the presence of these pyrogenic contaminants char and partially burnt debris were also collected and analysed. Benzene, PAHs, isocyanates and phosphorus flame retardants were found. Hydrogen cyanide and synthetic vitreous fibres were present in both soil and debris. Particulate and pyrogenic contamination in the immediate vicinity is clearly evident, and may have leached out of fire debris, char and dust. Further analysis of the area around the Tower is necessary to understand potential health risks.