United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-93/239 March 1994
x EPA Project Summary
Characterization of Air
Emissions from the Simulated
Open Combustion of Fiberglass
Materials
Christopher C. Lutes and Jeffrey V. Ryan
The exposure of persons to fiber-
glass combustion emissions from
structural fires, fires at waste landfills,
and fires at demolition sites has be-
come an issue of increasing concern.
This study identifies and quantifies a
broad range of pollutants that are dis-
charged during the small-scale, simu-
lated, open combustion of fiberglass
and reports these emissions relative to
the mass of fiberglass material com-
busted. Two types of fiberglass materi-
als (representing the boating and build-
ing materials industries) were com-
busted in a controlled outbuilding de-
signed for the simulation of open burn-
ing. Volatile, semivolatile, and particu-
late-bound organics were collected and
analyzed by gas chromatography/mass
spectrometry. The emphasis of these
analyses was on the quantification of
hazardous air pollutants listed in Title
III of the Clean Air Act Amendments of
1990, although further efforts were
made to identify and quantify other
major organic components. Additional
sampling and analysis were done for
hydrogen chloride, particulate-phase
metals, and respirable fibers. Fixed
combustion gases (carbon dioxide, car-
bon monoxide, nitric oxide, oxygen, and
total hydrocarbons) were monitored
continuously throughout the test pe-
riod. Analytical results show substan-
tial emissions of a large number of
pollutants including arsenic, benzene,
benzo(a)pyrene, carbon monoxide,
dibenzofuran, lead, naphthalene, par-
ticulate, phenanthrene, phenol, styrene,
and toluene.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
ings of the research project that is fully
documented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Introduction
Concerns over exposure to air emis-
sions from the open burning of fiberglass
in structural fires, and at waste disposal
and demolition sites have been expressed
to EPA's Control Technology Center by
government entities including the state of
Alaska. Though little previous research
has been done specifically on combustion
emissions from fiberglass, literature does
exist relating to the composition of fiber-
glass, the combustion products of some
components of commercial fiberglass ma-
terials, and the suspected health effects
of fiberglass fibers. Fiberglass is princi-
pally composed of SiO2 (approximately
50% by weight); additional major compo-
nents are AI2O3, Ba2O3, CaO, and MgO
(typically 3 to 20% each); and trace com-
ponents include F, Fe2O3, K2O, Na2O, SO3,
and TiO2 (less then 1% by weight each).
Additionally, fiberglass materials may con-
tain organics as sizings or binders. Or-
ganics-containing fiberglass materials can
be classified as either epoxy- or polyes-
ter-based. The known combustion prod-
ucts of polyester-based materials have
been reviewed and are known to include
acetaldehyde, benzene, biphenyl, carbon
monoxide, ethyl benzene, pentadiene, sty-
rene, and toluene. Much of the available
L(A) Printed on Recycled Paper
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information on these combustion products
has been obtained in small-scale studies
of materials that are likely to be less com-
plex than the commercial materials found
in practice. Therefore, larger scale tests
of complex commercial materials under
simulated open combustion conditions
promise increased insight.
In addition to potential hazards of a
chemical nature, the air emissions from
open fiberglass combustion may include
fibrous aerosols; the physical nature of
fibrous aerosols may lead to additional
health hazards. Epidemiological studies
have shown significant increases in non-
malignant respiratory disease in popula-
tions exposed to glass fibers. Glass fibers
are apparently less harmful to health than
asbestos fibers. The greatest hazard ap-
pears to be related to fibers less than
1.5 (im in diameter and longer than 8 u,m.
No measurements of fiberglass fiber emis-
sions from combustion processes have
been found in literature reviewed to date.
An assessment of the concentration and
size distribution of fibrous aerosols pro-
duced from fiberglass open combustion
processes would be valuable.
In response, with the guidance of EPA's
Air and Energy Engineering Research
Laboratory (AEERL), a study was under-
taken to measure emissions from the com-
bustion of fiberglass samples from two
industries that use fiberglass extensively.
This study included replicate tests of fi-
berglass materials from the boating indus-
try (polyester-based, some with and some
without a gel coating—a colored sealant),
and the building industry (vinylester-
based). The study was designed to col-
lect, identify, and quantify a wide range of
air emissions and to report these emis-
sions per mass of fiberglass material com-
busted. The emphasis of these analyses
was on the quantification of air toxics com-
pounds listed in Title III of the Clean Air
Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAAs), al-
though further efforts were made to iden-
tify and semiquantify other major organic
components.
Methods
Combustion testing for this study oc-
curred in EPA's Open Burning Simulation
facility. This facility consists of a 2.7 by
3.4 m outbuilding equipped with a plat-
form scale, air handles, and sampling
equipment used for combustion studies.
The boating industry fiberglass samples
(a total of 8-10 kg per test) were placed in
the facility and ignited using a brief appli-
cation of a hand-held propane torch which
was removed before sampling began. A
"hut blank" test, in which the propane torch
was briefly introduced into the facility but
no fiberglass was combusted, was con-
ducted for comparison. In order to allow
adequate time for all necessary samples
to be obtained, three separate charges of
fiberglass were combusted during each
test. Combustion of one charge was al-
lowed to go to apparent completion (as
signified by constant weight and near back-
ground concentrations of combustion
gases) before another charge was intro-
duced. Attempts to test the building indus-
try fiberglass sample in like manner were
unsuccessful because of the high concen-
tration of flame retardant in this sample.
Therefore, the combustion of the building
industry material (a total of 4 to 6 kg per
test) was supported by a continuous liquid
propane (LP) gas flame during sampling.
This study design was intended to simu-
late the behavior of this flame-retarded
fiberglass material in the presence of other
non-flame-retarded combustibles. A "com-
bustion blank' test, in which the LP flame
was operated but no fiberglass was
present, was conducted for comparison.
In addition, various field and laboratory
blank samples were collected for each
sampling train. In order to allow adequate
time for all necessary samples to be ob-
tained, two separate charges of fiberglass
were combusted during each test. Com-
bustion of one charge was allowed to go
to apparent completion, as was done for
the boating industry samples, before an-
other charge was introduced.
An elemental analysis of the fiberglass
samples was performed before testing.
Fixed combustion gases [carbon dioxide
(CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide
(NO), oxygen (O2), and total hydrocar-
bons (THC)] were monitored continuously
throughout the test period through the sam-
pling manifold. Temperatures at relevant
locations in and around the test facility
and the mass of fiberglass material were
monitored throughout the test period.
Volatile organics were collected from
the sample manifold on sorbent tubes
(VOST train) and analyzed by gas chro-
matography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).
Since extremely high levels of volatile or-
ganic compounds were observed during
early tests of the building industry fiber-
glass, an additional volatile sampling
method was implemented. Samples were
collected in Tedlar® bags and analyzed by
GC/MS. Samples for semivolatile and par-
ticulate-bound organics and metal aerosol
analysis were collected through separate
medium volume PM10 samplers in the burn
hut. The sample for metal aerosol was
collected on a 142-mm-diameter quartz
fiber filter and analyzed by inductively
coupled plasma-atomic emission spec-
trometry. The semivolatile and particulate-
phase organic sample was collected with
a 142-mm-diameter,Tef lon®-impregnated,
glass fiber filter and XAD-2® resin sorbent.
The filter and resin were then extracted in
methylene chloride, and the pooled ex-
tract was analyzed by GC/MS. A real-time
photoelectric analyzer, designed to quan-
tify total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) on submicron particulate, was also
operated using a sample stream withdrawn
through the sampling manifold. A sample
probe for vapor-phase hydrogen chloride
was also located in the burn hut. These
samples were analyzed by ion chroma-
tog rap hy.
The sampling train used to sample for
fiber size and morphology analysis con-
sisted of a 37-mm mixed cellulose ester
filter cassette followed by a low volume
sampling pump and dry gas meter. The
filter was operated in an inverted position,
parallel to the facility floor during sampling
to minimize the collection of particulate
matter through gravitational settling. Analy-
sis was performed by phase contrast light
microscopy (PCM) and transmission elec-
tron microscopy (TEM). For these analy-
ses, a fiber was defined as a particle with
an aspect ratio of greater than 3:1. These
sampling and analysis methodologies were
based on NIOSH methods for asbestos
fibers.
After the completion of the chemical
and microscopic analyses, analyte con-
centration data were coupled with sample
volume, facility air flow, and combustible
material mass loss data to derive esti-
mated emissions (expressed as mass of
analyte produced per mass of fiberglass
material consumed in the combustion pro-
cess).
Results and Discussion
The elemental analysis of the fiberglass
materials before combustion (Table 1) in-
dicates that the organic matter content of
the boating industry fiberglass is higher
than that of building industry material. The
substantial halogen concentration found
in the building industry material tends to
confirm the manufacturer's statement that
the material contained a brominated fire
retardant. The vast majority of the com-
bustion of each charge of boating industry
material was completed in a 20-40 minute
period, while the majority of the building
industry material in each charge appeared
to be consumed in 30-60 minutes. Table
2 summarizes the estimated emissions
derived from real-time measurements of
CO, CO2, THC, and total PAH bound to
submicron particulate. The substantial CO
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emissions observed, which are probably
underestimated in this data set, are a con-
cern since CO is believed to be the most
important cause of death of fire victims.
Substantial emissions of particulate mat-
ter were also observed (average values
were 117 g/kg for the boating industry
material and 607 g/kg for the building in-
dustry material). This is a concern since
most previous studies of combustion prod-
ucts of various polymers have paid little
attention to the composition of the particu-
late phase.
The volatile organic data set includes
concentration measurements for 35 tar-
geted (the majority of which are consis-
tently non-detectable) and several dozen
tentatively identified species; Table 3 pre-
sents average data on several selected
compounds that were among those seen
in the highest levels.
It appears that the relative ratios of these
components are similar for both the boat-
ing and building industry materials but that
the absolute emission rate is higher for
the building industry material.
The semivolatile and particulate bound
organics data set generated from this
project includes concentration measure-
ments for more than 90 targeted com-
pounds (the majority of which were con-
sistently non-detectable) and several
dozen tentatively identified species. Aver-
age emission values for a selected set of
detected, targeted semivolatile, and par-
ticulate bound organics are presented in
Table 4. Average estimated emissions for
these compounds are generally lower than
for the volatile species discussed previ-
ously. As in previous measurements, the
values obtained in the building industry
fiberglass tests are generally higher than
those in the boating industry tests. Pre-
liminary calculations have shown that the
estimated emissions calculated from the
output of the real-time PAH analyzer (Table
2) agree at least within a factor of 10 with
the sum of estimated emissions calcu-
lated from the Method 8270 analyses of
PAHs that would be expected to be pre-
dominantly in the particulate phase.
Fibrous aerosols samples rarely showed
significantly more fibers than were seen in
blank samples, as shown in Table 5. How-
ever, detection limits were quite high for
this analysis, since the maximum feasible
loading of total particulate on these filters
was reached after a very small volume
(<20 L) was sampled, and it is feasible to
conduct the microscopic examination only
on a small representative portion of the
filter surface area.
The particulate-phase metals samples
were analyzed for 11 elements. Of these,
Table 1. Composition of Fiberglass Materials Tested (All Data as Percent Composition)
Building
Industry
Fiberglass
2533
2.48
10.06
<05
<0.5
1.9
2.2
0.12
<0.01
0.086
0.52
35.29
60.23
3.96
Boating Industry
Fiberglass -
Without Gel Coat
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Sulfur
Total Halogen (as Cl)
Aluminum
Magnesium
Cadmium
Chromium
Moisture
Volatile Matter
Ash
Fixed Carbon
52.97
4.79
7.1
0.017
<0.03
<0.5
0.28
<0.05
<0.004
0.0091
2.06
63.11
34.83
<0.1
Boating Industry
Fiberglass -
With Gel Coat
55.06
5.27
<0.5
0.015
<0.03
<0.5
0.081
<0.05
<0.004
0.041
1.19
56.24
39.57
3
Table 2.
Combustion Gas and PAH Particulate Analyzer Concentrations and Estimated
Emissions
Test
09/08/92
09/17/92
10/13/92
10/30/92
11/04/92
~Key: ~
First Boating Industry Test
Second Boating Industry Test
First Building Industry Test
Second Building Industry Test
Third Building Industry Test
CO as C
Estimated
Emissions
(g/kg)
•t 48.2*
Test 55.2*
;f 205.9"
Test 141.4*
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Table 4. Estimated Emissions of Selected Semivolatiles
Boating Industry Building Industry
Compound Average (mg/kg) Average (mg/kg)
Anthracene 353 202
Benzo(a)pyrene 86 72
Biphenyl 689 1,936
Chrysene 323 458
2-Methyl Phenol 125 400
Phenanthrene 902 2,156
Phenol 328 6,830
Table 5. Fibrous Aerosol Measurements
PCM Length >5 ATEM Length >0.5 ATEM Length
usn Estimated <5.0 /iim Estimated >5 /MTI Estimated
Sample Test Emissions Emissions (million Emissions (million
No. Date Test (million S/kg) S/kg) S/kg)
7 09/17/92 Second Boating Industry 1710 490*# 420*#
8 09/17/92 Second Boating Industry 4846* 1902*# 1902*#
11 09/17/92 Second Boating Industry 504* NFD*# NFD*#
16 10/13/92 First Building Industry 1904* 395* 395*
17 10/13/92 First Building Industry 432* 89*# 89*#
19 10/30/92 Second Building Industry 231*# 120*# 120*#
Key: NFD = No libers detected, detection limit cannot be stated accurately due to
loading problems.
PCM = Phase contrast microscopy.
ATEM = Analytical transmission electron microscopy.
= Number of observed fibers not greater then 3 times larger than the appli-
cable field and hut blank values.
# = Air concentration of observed fibers not more then 3 times larger than the
applicable hut or combustion blank value
S = Fibrous structures.
phases of the combustion process. In ad-
dition, since the rate of emissions from a
small mass of combusted fiberglass was
high enough to threaten overloading of
the sampling media, it was necessary to
sharply limit the amount of fiberglass com-
busted in each test phase. This may in-
troduce a significant source of error into
the data set because the resolution of the
balance used to measure the weight of
fiberglass lost to combustion was 0.09 kg
(0.2 Ib): (the average weight losses for
the samples were as follows: organic
semivolatile/particulate train 1.4 kg (3.0
Ib), metals train 1.7 kg (3.8 Ib), VOST
train 0.4 kg (0.9 Ib), Tedlar® bag train
0.91 kg (2.0 Ib), GEM train 3.8 kg (8.3 Ib),
fiber train 0.45 kg (1 Ib), and hydrochloric
acid train 3.3 kg (7.2 Ib)).
Conclusion
Despite the aforementioned experimen-
tal difficulties, this project did succeed in
producing estimated emissions data for a
broad range of atmospheric pollutants from
simulated open fiberglass combustion.
Substantial emissions of a large number
of pollutants were observed, including ar-
senic, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, carbon
monoxide, dibenzofuran, lead, naphtha-
lene, particulate, phenanthrene, phenol,
styrene, and toluene.
Table 6. Metals Estimated Emissions (mg/kg)
Test Silver Arsenic
Cadmium
First Boating Industry
Second Boating Industry
Boating Industry Average
First Building Industry
Second Building Industry
Third Building Industry
Building Industry Average
4.41
4.60
4.50
13.38*
14.45*
6.76*#
11.53
<0.52*#
<0.6*#
0.56
6.13*
48.15
13.05
22.44
0.06*#
0.29
0.18
<0.28*#
<0.80*
<0.24*#
0.44
Chromium Lead
1.57*#
0.48*#
1.03
8.92
14.45*
5.80*#
9.72
21.00
38.72
29.86
<2.79*#
<8.03*
<2.42*#
4.41
Key:
Mass of this sample not greater than 3 times the largest of the following: mass in
field blank, mass in hut blank, or mass in combustion blank, as applicable.
Sample hut air concentration not greater than 3 times the hut blank air concentra-
tion or the combustion blank air concentration, as applicable.
. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: IW4 - 550-067/80203
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C. C. Lutes and J. V. Ryan are with Acurex Environmental Corp., Research Triangle
Park, NC 27709.
Paul M. Lemieux is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Characterization of Air Emissions from the Simulated
Open Combustion of Fiberglass Materials," (Order No. PB94-136231; Cost:
$19.50; subject to change) will be available only from
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-93/239
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