Futons on Fire
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Fire Marshals’ Petition CPSC to Set Flammability Standard for Bedding
The National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish an open-flame and cigarette ignition flammability standard for bedding. CPSC said the request did not meet the Commission’s requirements for petitions. NASFM is expected to resubmit the request with additional information.
The NASFM said tests indicate that the most hazardous items of bedding are products that contain filling materials for comfort or thermal purposes, such as pillows, comforters and mattress pads. Sheets and blankets raise less of a flammability hazard.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently conducted research on mattresses and bedding sponsored by the mattress industry and will conduct research on bedding products containing flame-resistant fillings and interliner barrier fabrics as part of further industry sponsored research on mattresses. NASFM wants CPSC to consider this research when it responds to its petition. CPSC is preparing a briefing package and an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for an open-flame standard for mattresses due in early 2001.
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CPSC Moves Towards National Standard for Open Flame Testing of Mattresses and Futons
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is moving toward a new national open-flame standard for mattresses and futons and some futons could also be affected by potential new CPSC standards for upholstered furniture. These products are already subject to a national smolder ignition standard (CPSC mattress standard) and a number of state-level regulations. Requirements will become more rigorous.
This increases the pressure on manufacturers to stay up to date and keep their test records in good order, and ups the ante for retailers to ensure that their inventory is compliant, lest they lose their stock to a “withhold from sale.”
This situation has also prompted Futon Association International (FAI) to join with the National Cotton Batting Institute (NCBI) and the International Sleep Products Association to provide FAI members with stronger advocacy in the compliance arena.
In light of this, the FAI has posed a series of questions that are of interest to the futon industry. This column addresses the first of these questions. Others will be addressed in future issues of Futon Life. FAI members who have questions on the subject may direct them to NCBI, P.O. Box 820287, Memphis, TN, 38182, or at info@natbat.com
What sort of research does NCBI undertake to determine fire resistant characteristics?
NCBI per se does not do research. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, NCBI worked cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop cotton batting products with the ability to resist combustion. This work covered a 14-year period and resulted in a fire retardant treatment using boric acid that is now the standard for cotton batting. The resulting product exhibits excellent flame resistant properties for both open flame and cigarette ignition resistance. The percentage of boric acid add-on determined by USDA was confirmed in actual practice in California. In “A Technical Bulletin 106 Flammability Survey of the California Futon Market-1998,” it was reported that cotton batting, with a boric acid add-on of 10 percent, passed the mandated flammability tests.
Other research efforts by individual cotton batting manufacturers led to establishment of ASTM D 5238-92, the cigarette sandwich batt test. This test is used as a daily production quality control test in the present third party Underwriters Laboratories Certification Program and must be conducted by certified cotton batting manufacturers no less than every two hours during production.
One vital component in producing flame-resistant futons is knowledge of materials. Beyond the application of borates, including boric acid, and reduction of trash content, what characteristics of cotton also affect its flame resistance?
Properly treated cotton is self-extinguishing. Use of treated cotton batting in mattresses, futons and upholstered furniture significantly reduces the risk of injury because of its negligible burn factor and reduced emission of toxic fumes.
Even untreated cotton batting, a natural cellulose product, tends to burn slow. It does not melt, become molten or drip like man-made materials and is more likely to smolder rather than flame after the initial source of flame is removed.
For more information about cotton batting, visit NCBI’s web site, www.natbat.com.