Smoke is an important component of wildfires. Specifying the combustion process of different materials allows scientists to better prevent and adopt public health measures. This experimental study contributes to a better characterisation of the smoke emitted by two types of decking, wood and thermoplastic, commonly used in terraces. Emission factors were characterised using a cone calorimeter for different incident fluxes ranging from 10 to 50 kW/m². The study showed that compared to wooden (pine) decking, thermoplastic (polypropylene) decking produces more gases and aerosols, less VOCs, but with a chemical composition that is more carcinogenic.

Wildfires are a major threat to the environment and human populations