There is no widely accepted protocol for the assessment of combustion products toxicity. Most procedures employed for this purpose utilize endpoints that assess time-to-incapacitation and lethality. Such protocols are based on sample thermal decomposition techniques which often do not reflect conditions to which pf-ll chemicals and materials will be exposed. The results obtained using such protocols are difficult to interpret and often there is insufficient data to permit an assessment of the potential toxic hazard to humans. We will in phase I program design, construct, and standardize a state-of-the-art animal exposure chamber, which will be interfaced with a variety of computerized analytical systems to monitor the chamber's atmosphere, and develop criteria based on electrophysiological techniques for the assessment of the first observable decrement of performance in humans exposed to pyrolysis OR combustion products from pf-ll materials. The results obtained will be utilized within the phase-ii program to develop a rapid inexpensive protocol for the first-tier assessment of potential toxic hazard to humans exposed to the pyrolysis and/or combustion products of pf-ll materials.
