A low level of opacity of smoke produced and acidity of the effluent are basic criteria in the selection of materials that, in the event of fire, make it possible to reduce the presence of dangerous gases and to facilitate escape. It is essential that the production of opaque smoke and harmful emissions is as low as possible during a fire.
The majority of deaths in a fire are due to inhaling dangerous gases. It is vital to reduce the exposure time to these gases by facilitating safe evacuation with the best possible visibility
Restrict the propagation of fire and the heat release
Cables are generally composed of a metallic (or glass) conductor and organic materials for insulation and sheathing. The organic materials are combustible to various degrees.
Cables can be the means of propagation of a fire from one room to adjacent rooms; so the control of fire propagation along cable runs has been required in some National Regulations for many years in order to reduce this hazard. In term of cable design, reduced propagation performance implies the use of materials that are "self-retardant" or compounded with "flame-retardants". Performance is determined not only on a single cable, but also on a vertically installed bunch of cables which simulates the most onerous installation condition.
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