What Is MICC Cable?

01-06-2020

What is flame retardant cable?

In building construction, electrical cable sheathing is a potential source of fuel in the event of a fire. Soft-skin flame retardant cables consist of single or multi-stranded conductor cores (copper), individual core insulation (polymer) and an outer insulating sheath (polymer). This arrangement has a continuous operating temperature of 80°C. Because this arrangement contains polymers that easily burn, soft-skin cable manufacturers may use LSF (Low Smoke and Fume) or LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) fire retardant polymers to limit the spread of fire along the sheathing. Halogens (non-metallic elements) are added to the outer sheath such as; chlorine, bromine and fluorine. When exposed to a fire, these halogenated polymers will release halides which are extremely toxic. The outer and inner sheaths of soft skin polymer cables burn and contribute to a fire releasing toxic smoke which can itself ignite, often explosively. Further and crucially, in the event of a fire flame retardant cables offer little benefit with regard to maintaining circuit integrity.

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