Electrical cables are essential in every building. They provide power which controls lighting, all your power points, air-conditioning, air handling, communication, lifts, data, essential services and emergency power systems.

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Each cable is insulated and has a protective outer sheath (or jacket). The materials most commonly used for insulation and jacket are PVC, PE, or rubber compounds, because they are electrically and mechanically reliable, and available at competitive prices.
However, these cable materials are often involved in the fire especially when the electrical wiring has initiated the fire.
These traditional materials generate more smoke more quickly, obscuring exit signs, disorienting people, and hindering fire-fighting efforts. Some of the chemicals released can become corrosive, and can seriously damage equipment and building structures, as well as being potentially fatal for occupants.
Halogens are a group of five elements - bromine, chlorine, fluorine, astatine and iodine. The first three elements were used commonly. Some are still used in electric cable materials and are a successful means of retarding the progress of fire along the cable.
Bromine, chlorine and fluorine are highly toxic when combined with hydrogen as halides but are more immediately dangerous as irritants. When such gasses contact moisture in a person’s eyes, throat and lungs, the irritant effect is quickly debilitating and significantly hinders safe and calm building evacuation. The toxic effects can be ultimately lethal but the time taken for the gases to become fatal varies, depending on concentration, absorption and physical size.
The benefits of halogen free cables
In the event of a fire, LS0H (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) cables behave very differently to non LS0H cables.
The use of LS0H materials in the manufacture of cables eliminates the harmful effects, enabling a calmer and safer building evacuation in the event of a fire. The spread of fire can also be more easily contained, thereby minimizing property damage.
Low Smoke Zero Halogen cables will generate less of all the toxic and irritant gasses including carbon monoxide, which is one of the major reasons for fatalities in building fires.
Nexans Olex’s Alsecure® Enirvolex® cables are low smoke and contain zero halogens, providing a range of important benefits for building asset owners and occupants:
- In the event of a fire, Alsecure® Envirolex ® cables generate less smoke and therefore, fewer irritants in the atmosphere, providing greater visibility
- Because they emit less smoke, Alsecure®Envirolex cables will provide significantly improved evacuation speeds and could save lives
- With less organic content than traditional cables, Alsecure®Envirolex cables have a lower heat of combustion per kilogram, so they will use less oxygen and generate less heat
- Alsecure®Envirolex cables have low organic content and low calorific values, so they will generate less of all the toxic and irritant gasses, including carbon monoxide
- Alsecure®Envirolex ® material composition is such that it does not emit any corrosive fumes or gases in the event of fire thereby minimizing the impact of fire on important goods and equipment in the buildings.
Incorporating the Alsecure®Envirolex ® range of cables in Buildings not only protects important equipment and building assets but most importantly enhances occupant safety by providing a healthy living environment inside the building.
