Anna Agnieszka Stec is Professor in Fire Chemistry and Toxicology at the

University of Central Lancashire , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

. Her interests include the assessment of toxic and irritant hazards in fires, and the factors affecting fire gas toxicity.

Education

Stec gained a MSC (Eng) from

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology ( pl, Politechnika Warszawska, lit=Varsovian Polytechnic) is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professor ...

, and a PhD (Fire Chemistry and Toxicity) from

University of Bolton , established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education , type = Public , endowment = £160,000 (2009) , administrative_staff = 700+ , chancellor ...

. Her thesis title was "Fire toxicity and its measurement".

Professional bodies

*Fellow of the

Institution of Fire Engineers Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

(FIFireE) *Fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

(FRSC) *Fellow of the

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

(FHEA) *Chartered Scientist (CSci) of the

Science Council The Science Council is a UK organisation that was established by Royal Charter in 2003. The principal activity of The Science Council is the promotion of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of and education in science pure and applie ...

*Member of

International Association for Fire Safety Science The International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) is an institution founded with the primary objective of encouraging research into the science of preventing and mitigating the adverse effects of fires and of providing a forum for pre ...

Research

In 2012 she led research, presented to an

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

symposium on "Fire and polymers", which showed that halogen-based

flame retardant The term flame retardants subsumes a diverse group of chemicals that are added to manufactured materials, such as plastics and textiles, and surface finishes and coatings. Flame retardants are activated by the presence of an ignition source a ...

s used in many domestic and other consumer products can increase the production of

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

and

hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...

gases which are the main cause of deaths from fire. "We found that flame retardants have the undesirable effect of increasing the amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide released during combustion," she said. In 2013 she experimented with the effects of fire on a 1950 style British house discovering that toxic gases were as prevalent in closed rooms and ones with their doors open: this affected emergency egress times. Her work in 2018 showed that fire fighters were 3 times more likely to contract cancer, as the carcinogens entered through the skin. The methods used to wash their protective gear washed the carcinogens into the fibres making them carcinogenic.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Seventy-one people died in the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...

. Stec had warned of the toxic nature of plastic cladding in an academic paper. On 8 February 2018, Stec briefed

Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...

, saying further analysis was needed of soil and dust within the tower and other evacuated buildings before residents returned. The so-called “Grenfell cough” reported by survivors is indicative of elevated levels of atmospheric contaminants such as

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...

s (PAH) which are potentially

carcinogen A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

ic. Early results indicate high levels of PAH in the surrounding soil and the biggest threat to survivors would be from absorption of toxic material via the skin, not from smoke inhalation. Black soot from the fire was highly likely to be contaminated with

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

from the tower. There would be potential large-scale contamination up to a mile around the tower, with potential long-term health implications. In September 2018 Stec was appointed as an expert witness to the Grenfell Tower Enquiry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stec, Anna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British chemists British women chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellows of the Higher Education Academy Alumni of the University of Bolton Warsaw University of Technology alumni Academics of the University of Central Lancashire