Poly(vinyl chloride) and its fire properties

This work provides an up-to-date review of the fire properties of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) materials, both rigid (unplasticized) and flexible (plasticized). The fire properties addressed include ignitability, ease of extinction (oxygen index), flame spread (small scale and intermediate scale), heat release, smoke obscuration, smoke toxicity, hydrogen chloride emission and decay, and performance in real-scale fires. This comprehensive review includes a wide selection of references and tables illustrating the properties of PVC materials in comparison with those of other polymeric materials, including, in many instances, wood materials. The work puts these fire properties in perspective, showing that the heat release rate (the key fire property) of rigid PVC (and that of properly flame-retarded flexible PVC) are among the lower values found for combustible materials. This work also shows that the smoke toxicity and smoke obscuration resulting from burning PVC materials in real-scale fires is in the same range as those of other materials.