Updates on Federal Rules on Flammability of Furniture
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Transcript of Updates on Federal Rules on Flammability of Furniture
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Overview of the Commission’s Recent Activities on Furniture Flammability Rulemaking*
April 25, 2013
CPSC Upholstered Furniture Fire Safety Technology Meeting5 Research Place, Rockville, MD
For further information contactRik Khanna, Project Manager
301-987-2058 [email protected] * This information was prepared by the CPSC staff; it has not be been reviewed or approved by, and does not necessarily represent the views of,
the Commission.
Upholstered Furniture Fire Risk
National fire loss estimates (2008-2010) reported upholstered furniture as first item ignited in estimated annual average of 5,300 residential fires attended by fire services during that period.
Fires resulted in estimated average of 450 deaths, 810 injuries, and $309 million in property loss each year.
Once furniture ignites, it contains enough fuel that fire can spread very quickly once upholstery filling materials start to burn.
CPSC Proposed Rule
NPR published in March 2008□ 73 Fed. Reg. 11702 (March 4, 2008)
Objectives:□ Address standard’s target risk: smoldering ignited
fires that cause most addressable fire deaths and injuries
□ Prevent transition from smoldering to flaming combustion
□ Minimize reliance on FR chemical additives in fabrics and filling materials
□ Reduce fire risk at reasonable cost
Summary of NPR Objectives
Proposed Standard establishes 2 possible approaches
Furniture can have either:□ Upholstery cover material that complies with the
prescribed smoldering ignition test ( “Type I” furniture); or□ Interior fire barrier that complies with specified smoldering
and small open-flame ignition tests (“Type II” furniture).
Does not rely on FR additives to achieve compliance
Post – NPR Technical Work
Validation Test Program – Bench and Full-Scale□ Smoldering Ignition □ Open-Flame Ignition
Standard Reference Foam Development□ Reduce Variability
Validation Tests
Conducted with Type I cover fabrics and Type II fire barriers that met criteria of proposed standard in bench-scale testing
Bench-scale tests used same materials as full-scale tests; no standard foam or fabric was used
Smoldering and open-flame ignition source tests were conducted.
Smoldering Ignition Tests: Bench-Scale
Materials in bench-scale tests did not behave as previously observed.
Cover fabrics did not show difference in smoldering as expected.
Presence of fire barrier did not show a practical difference in smoldering of underlying foam.
Foam seemed to be different than previously purchased foam, potentially affecting results. □ Revealed need for an SRM foam.
Smoldering Ignition Tests: Full-Scale
Chairs constructed of same materials as bench-scale tests.
Fire barriers expected to inhibit smoldering ignition of internal foam.
Fire barriers did not consistently protect against smoldering ignitions.□ Chairs constructed with fire barriers
demonstrated considerable amount of smoldering.
Example of Smoldering Ignition Tests
Without BarrierNon-FR Foam
With BarrierNon-FR Foam
Open-Flame Ignition Tests:Bench- and Full-Scale
Bench-scale tests showed fire barriers able to delay ignition of foam, as previously observed.
Full-scale tests showed that fire barriers were successful in reducing fire severity.
Example of Open-Flame Ignition Tests
Without BarrierNon-FR foam@ 4 minutes
Without BarrierFR foam@ 4 minutes
With BarrierNon-FR foam@ 4 minutes
With BarrierFR foam@ 4 minutes
Validation Tests - Conclusions
Bench-scale performance behavior in both scales should be similar qualitatively.
Smoldering ignition bench-scale performance did not demonstrate adequate prediction of real furniture flammability performance for Type I and Type II chairs, in this test series.
Open-flame ignition, bench-scale qualification tests for fire barriers (Type II) results in improvement in full-scale fire performance.
Standard Test Materials
Objective: maximize repeatability, minimize variability of test results
SRM 1196 cigarette incorporated into mattress rule (16 CFR Part 1632) in 2011
SRM foam characterization in 2012
Ongoing Work
Conduct further testing with standard materials
Engage ASTM E05 on potential revisions to ASTM E1353
Monitor revisions to California TB-117 Issued CPSC Federal Register notice and
host Furniture Fire Safety Technology Meeting
Furniture Fire Safety Technology Meeting and Request for Comments
April 25 - Fire Safety Technology Meeting□ Focus on current technologies and anticipated progress on
future fire barrier technologies and other options to reduce the fire hazard posed by residential upholstered furniture.
□ http://www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/epi/epifurnituremtg.aspx
Request for Comments□ Invite interested parties to submit comments related to the
meeting or possible change in regulatory approach using fire barriers
□ Comments due July 1, 2013
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Overview of the Commission’s Recent Activities on Furniture Flammability Rulemaking*
April 25, 2013
CPSC Upholstered Furniture Fire Safety Technology Meeting5 Research Place, Rockville, MD
For further information contactRik Khanna, Project Manager
301-987-2058 [email protected] * This information was prepared by the CPSC staff; it has not be been reviewed or approved by, and does not necessarily represent the views of,
the Commission.