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Controversy over new fire-fighting agent
Posted on Apr 01 2009
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Akzo Nobel has announced the discovery of a new fire-fighting agent to add to their existing range. Marketed as HyHy (hydronium hydroxide), it augments rather than replaces existing agents such as foam, dry powder, carbon dioxide and BCF (or Halon in the US), which have been in use from time immemorial. It is particularly suited for dealing with fires in buildings, timber yards and warehouses.

Though required in large quantities, it is fairly cheap to produce and it is intended that large quantities of about a million gallons should be stored in urban areas and near other installations of high risk ready for immediate use.

While existing agents are usually stored under pressure, HyHy will be stored in open ponds and reservoirs and conveyed to the scene of the fire by hoses and portable pumps.

Akzo Nobel’s new proposals are already encountering strong opposition from safety and environmental groups. Professor Connie Barrinner pointed out that, for anyone immersing their head in a bucket of the liquid, it would prove fatal in as little as 3 minutes. Yet each of the proposed reservoirs will contain enough of the new fire-fighting agent to fill half a million two-gallon buckets. “Each bucketful could be used a hundred times so there is enough of this stuff in one reservoir to kill the entire population of the United Kingdom,” said Professor Barrinner. “Societal risks of this magnitude are unacceptable, whatever the apparent benefit.”

Cambridge City Council said it would strongly oppose planning permission for construction of a reservoir in the area unless the most stringent precautions were followed. Unconfined storage, it said, was clearly ruled out due to the risk of people falling in or contents leaking. At the very least the agent would need to have secondary containment in the form of a concrete wall, surrounding the primary containment vessels.

A spokesman from the London Fire Brigade said he did not see the need for a new agent, which would bring with it severe risks, particularly to firefighters. “Do we know what would happen to this new medium if it was exposed to intense heat?” he said. “It’s been reported that HyHy is a constituent of beer. How do we know firefighters wouldn’t be intoxicated by the fumes?”

Friends of the Earth claim to have obtained a sample of HyHy and found it caused clothes to shrink. “If it does this to cotton, what would it do to people?” a spokesperson commented.

In the House of Commons yesterday, the Home Secretary replied that Local Authorities would have to take advice from the Health and Safety Executive before giving planning permission. A full investigation was needed and the Major Hazards Group would be asked to report.

HyHy is being marketed in France under the name EAU (Elément Anti-feu Universel).

with apologies to Prof Trevor Kletz

Image: Esa Oksman

Last changed: May 27 2009 at 8:35 AM