Fire suppression

In reading the MSDS's for Halon 1301, Novec 1230 and FM 200, I
notice that beneath the heading of reactivity data, all three of
these fire suppression products list hydrogen fluoride as a
hazardous decomposition product formed under conditions of high heat
or combustion.   I'm assuming that this means that if these clean
agents were used to extinguish a fire, a certain amount of hydrogen
fluoride would be generated.

Has anyone on the DistList been witness to an occasion where any of
these agents have been used to extinguish or suppress a fire?  If
so, was there any evidence of damage caused by hydrogen fluoride?
I'm particularly concerned with instances involving photographic
collections or reactive metal objects.

Will Jeffers
Collections Care Scientific Research Assistant
Scientific Research Laboratory
Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115-5597
617-369-3466
Fax: 617-369-3702


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:15
               Distributed: Wednesday, September 15, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-18-15-022
                                  ***