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Engineering Laboratory /Fire Research Division

Flammability Reduction Group

The Flammability Reduction Group develops, advances, and deploys measurement science to reduce fire hazard of building contents and construction materials. Carries out mission-related measurement science research and services to reduce material ignition probability, fire growth and spread, and environmental impacts; and develop codes and standards for cost-effective, fire-safe building contents and construction materials.

PFAS
Measurement Science of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Program
Barrier Fabric Compartment Flashover
Low Heat Release Upholstered Furniture
The graphic depicts a firefighter wearing protective turnout gear with a diagram of the three layers of the gear, which are the outer shell, the moisture barrier and thermal barrier.
Researchers Pin Down PFAS Prevalence in Firefighter Gear

Staff Spotlight

March 21, 2024
The Flammability Reduction Group within the Fire Research Division (FRD) welcomes Dr. Ankit Sharma as a Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) researcher.

HIGHLIGHT

January 2024
Wear and Tear May Cause Firefighter Gear to Release More ‘Forever Chemicals’

The graphic says "PFAS in Firefighter Gear" and depicts a firefighter wearing protective turnout gear with a diagram of the three layers of the gear, which are the outer shell, the moisture barrier and thermal barrier.
Credit: B. Hayes/NIST

Last year, a study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) showed that the textiles used in protective clothing worn by firefighters often contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a class of chemicals that has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other health effects.

Now, a follow-up study from NIST shows that the textiles used in that protective clothing, called turnout gear, tend to release more PFAS when they are subject to wear and tear. 
READ MORE

News and Updates

Ankit Sharma

Staff Spotlight - Dr. Ankit Sharma

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Ankit Sharma has joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an Associate (PREP) in the

Projects and Programs

First Responders

Public Health Risks to First Responders

Ongoing
OBJECTIVE: To identify a firefighter’s relative risk of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) released from their protective gear. TECHNICAL IDEA: The new technical idea is to determine the type, root source, and release mechanism of PFAS from FFG, which could be used to restrict
FireEPS

Engineered Fire Safe Products

Ongoing
Objective To develop a database that maintains the tools (experimental and analytical), measurement data (for model calibration and validation), material property sets, and validation data needed to enable quantitative prediction of material flammability behavior (e.g., ignition, steady burning, and

Low Heat Release Upholstered Furniture

Ongoing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: The objective is to reduce the fire hazard of residential upholstered furniture by providing 1) a methodology and guidance on non-fire-retardant mitigation strategies that will result in L-RUF, 2) robust standard reference cigarettes for smoldering ignition testing and the
fire fighter ventilating a building

Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings Program

Ongoing
Objective: To develop and apply advances in fire and structure-fire measurement capabilities and behavior predictive computational tools, standardized fire testing tools and methodologies, advanced fire detection technologies, and advanced fire resistant materials to enable innovative, cost

Fire Risk Reduction in Communities Program

Ongoing
Objective: To develop and deploy advances in measurement science to improve the resilience of communities and structures to unwanted fires through innovative fire protection and response technologies and tactics. What is the new technical idea? There are two new technical ideas, using measurement
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Publications

Estimating the Impact of 16 CFR Part 1633 on Bed Fire Outcomes

Author(s)
Stanley W. Gilbert, David T. Butry, Richard G. Gann, Rick D. Davis
Effective July 1, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission promulgated a Standard that would severely reduce the heat release rate and the early heat
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Software

CFAST

CFAST (Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport) is a computer program that helps fire investigators, safety officials, engineers, architects, and

FDS and Smokeview

Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. The software solves numerically a form of the Navier
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Tools and Instruments

Cone Calorimeter

Cone Calorimeter

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the fire community was pushing for reliable bench-scale tools to measure material flammability based on heat release rate. A

Awards

Popular Links