This Defence Standard (Def Stan) gives the requirements for one of a series of test methods for determining the fire characteristics of materials, which are referred to in Def Stan 07-247.

The test explores the toxicity of the products of combustion in terms of a limited set of small molecular species arising when a small specimen of a material is completely burnt under specified conditions.

The test is intended to form part of the pre-selection screening process for materials and should not be interpreted as an assessment of toxicity hazard under actual fire conditions. The test method is directed at the analysis of a specified set of gaseous species, which are commonly present in combustion products of materials used in military applications and which may cause lethality at the time of the fire. It does not address acute mental incapacitation effects, delayed/long term toxicity, or toxicity involving particulate combustion products. The set of gaseous species analysed is not exhaustive and the test does not necessarily determine the total toxicity of all the constituents of the products of combustion.

The test does not attempt to account for the influence of the rate of combustion of a material on its contribution to toxicity hazard.