Fire-retardant materials are designed to burn slowly and less flammable. A Fire-retardants work by interfering with chemical reactions that cause reduce combustion, such as by absorbing heat, diluting oxygen, or creating a protective layer. Fire-retardant materials should not be confused with ''fire-resistant'' materials. A fire resistant material is one which is designed to resist

burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combust ...

and withstand

heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

. An example of a fire-resistant material is one which is used in

bunker gear Firefighters in Chicago wearing rubber three-quarter boots and jacket Firefighters in Montreal in full turnout gear during a fire Bunker gear (also known as turnout gear, fire kit and incident gear) is the personal protective equipment (PPE) ...

worn by

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s to protect them from the

flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...

s of a burning building. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, after two significant construction fires which resulted in a combined loss of £1,500 million, ''The Joint Code of Practice'' was introduced by the

Fire Protection Association The Fire Protection Association is the UK's National Fire Safety Organisation. Established in 1946, it specializes in spreading awareness about wildfire. It offers education and training, a fire risk assessment service, a nationwide risk mana ...

(FPA), the UK's national fire safety organisation, to prevent fires on buildings undergoing construction work. The Joint Code of Practice provides advice on how to prevent fires such as through the use of flame-retardant temporary protection materials: for example, some high quality

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from wikt:hovel, simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the ex ...

protectors are designed to burn slowly and prevent the spread of fires.

Fire-retardant materials used in buildings

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

Mineral wool Mineral wool is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics. Applications of mineral wool include thermal insulation (as both structural insulation and pipe insulation), fi ...

Gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

boards *

Asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

cement *

Perlite Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the Hydrate, hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an indu ...

boards *

Calcium silicate Calcium silicate can refer to several silicates of calcium including: *CaO·SiO2, wollastonite (CaSiO3) *2CaO·SiO2, larnite (Ca2SiO4) *3CaO·SiO2, alite or (Ca3SiO5) *3CaO·2SiO2, (Ca3Si2O7). This article focuses on Ca2SiO4, also known as calci ...

Sodium silicate Sodium silicate is a generic name for chemical compounds with the formula or ·, such as sodium metasilicate (), sodium orthosilicate (), and sodium pyrosilicate (). The anions are often polymeric. These compounds are generally colorless tra ...

Potassium silicate Potassium silicate is the name for a family of inorganic compounds. The most common potassium silicate has the formula K2SiO3, samples of which contain varying amounts of water. These are white solids or colorless solutions.Gerard Lagaly, Werner ...

Treated lumber Wood preservation refers to any method or process, or even technique, used to protect the wood and extend its service life. Most wood species are susceptible to both biological (''biotic'') and non-biological (''abiotic'') factors that cause d ...

plywood *Treated

vegetable fiber Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. Fiber crops are characterized by having a large concentration of cellulose, which is what gives them their strength. The fibers may ...

(e.g.,

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

kenaf Kenaf tymology: Persian ''Hibiscus cannabinus'', is a plant in the family Malvaceae also called Deccan hemp and Java jute. ''Hibiscus cannabinus'' is in the genus ''Hibiscus'' and is native to Africa, though its exact origin is unknown. The n ...

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

, etc..) *

Fire-retardant A fire retardant is a substance that is used to slow down or stop the spread of fire or reduce its intensity. This is commonly accomplished by chemical reactions that reduce the flammability of fuels or delay their combustion. Fire retardants m ...

treated

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

Brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

Cement render Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, (optionally lime) and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on ...

Intumescent An intumescent substance is one that swells as a result of heat exposure, leading to an increase in volume and decrease in density. Intumescence refers to the process of swelling. Intumescent materials are typically used in passive fire protectio ...

paint *

Glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

Magnesium oxide Magnesium oxide (MgO), or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium (see also oxide). It has an empirical formula of MgO and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2− ions ...

(MgO) * Geobond asbestos substitute

Fire textiles

* PBI *

Aramid Aramid fibers, short for aromatic polyamide, are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated bulletproof vest, body armor cloth, fabric and ballistic composites ...

- para and meta * Flame retardant cotton *Coated

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

*Carbon foam (CFOAM) *

Melamine Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer (chemistry), trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-Triazine, 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives ha ...

Modacrylic A modacrylic is a synthetic copolymer. Modacrylics are soft, strong, resilient and dimensionally stable. They can be easily dyed, show good press and shape retention, and are quick to dry. They have outstanding resistance to chemicals and solvents ...

Phasing-out

Many common

brominated In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction which introduces one or more halogens into a chemical compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transformation important, e.g. in the production of polymers, drugs ...

flame retardants are being phased-out by manufacturers.Moran, N.
Phasing out fire retardants

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

, published 25 July 2013, accessed 13 August 2020 Asbestos is another fireproofing material that has been largely phased out, due to its health risks, including

asbestosis Asbestosis is long-term inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, scarring of the human lung, lungs due to asbestos fibers. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and chest pain, chest tightness. Complications may include lung canc ...

and

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

References

External links

European Flame Retardants Association
EFRA brings together and represents the leading organisations which manufacture, market or use flame retardants in Europe. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fire-retardant materials Engineering-related lists * * Flame retardants Materials science Textile arts-related lists

Fire-retardant materials used in buildings

Fire textiles

Phasing-out

See also

References

External links