Chemical composition of burnt smell caused by accidental fires: environmental contaminants.
Chemosphere
; 82(2): 237-43, 2011 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20947130
ABSTRACT
The chemical composition of the odors typical of fires has recently been deciphered. Basically the constituents are mixtures of acetophenone, benzyl alcohol, hydroxylated derivatives of benzaldehyde, methoxylated and/or alkylated phenols and naphthalene. This finding makes it possible to develop objective, practical analytic measurement methods for the burnt smell as a contribution to improving fire damage assessment and remediation monitoring. With the aid of an artificially produced burnt smell and a panel of testers the odor detection threshold of a test mixture was determined olfactometrically to 2 µg m⻳. Using a defined burnt-smell atmosphere in a test chamber, analytical methods with active sampling, the adsorbents XAD 7 and TENAX TA, and GC/MS measurement were then optimized and tested with a view to being able to carry out sensitive quantitative measurement of burnt smells. A further practical method with particular application to the qualitative characterization of this odor is based on the use of a new SPME (solid-phase microextraction) field sampler with DVB/CAR/PDMS (divinylbenzene/Carboxen™/polydimethylsiloxane) fibers.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Environmental Monitoring
/
Air Pollutants
/
Fires
/
Odorants
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Language:
En
Journal:
Chemosphere
Year:
2011
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Germany