Packaging materials as smoke barriers during fire

Abstract During fires in warehouses and shops, the fire smoke and fire‐extinguishing agents often cause great damage to both packaged and non‐packaged goods. Even products that are stored at a great distance from the fire are often contaminated by the smoke. The decision as to whether such products, after re‐packing, are still in perfect condition or not must often be made quickly and it can be especially difficult to judge foodstuffs in this respect. Depending on time aspects and ignorance of the protective functions of a packaging material, the wrong decisions are often made, which results in unnecessary rejections. Generally, it can be said that fire smoke immediately penetrates thin films of, for example, polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), uncoated cardboard and paper, as well as PE‐coated cardboard. Packaging materials such as rigid PVC rapidly degrade due to the chemical substances in fire smoke. Evaluation of the barrier properties of packaging materials against model fire smoke shows great differences in breakthrough times between laminates with three or more layers and packaging materials with only one or two layers.