A comparison of different flammability standards in different jurisdictions and how the standards of other jurisdictions can be used to inform our own.

1. Fire Safety Technologies
UK, EU, & US
Benefits and Costs
Green Science Policy Institute
Veena Singla PhD
Michel Dedeo PhD
Arlene Blum PhD

2. Toolbox for Fire Safety
• Decrease in smoking
• Smoke detectors
• Preventing ignition: Fire safe cigarettes,
candles, and lighters
• Sprinklers
• Fire Codes
• Fire safety education
• Furniture flammability regulations
Benefit and harm for interventions?

3. Can furniture flammability
standards in other
countries provide useful
information to inform our
standards?

4. Furniture fires caused by:
Open flameSmoldering
Cigarettes
Other smoking materials

5. Fabric over untreated foam
Crib 5
Foam covered in standard fabric.
Ignited with crib 5: 17 g pine.
Equivalent to 2 sheets newspaper.
Small open flame (BS EN 1021-2).
Ignited with 20 sec of 35 mm flame.
Smoldering cigarette (BS EN 1021-1).
UK Regulation of Residential Furniture
fabric
foam
2011 FIRA Flammability Guide

6. European Furniture Requirements
Country
Furniture
Material Requirement Standard
EU (voluntary) seat cigarette, small flame EN 1021-1/2
Finland, Sweden*,
Norway seat cigarette EN 1021-1
UK/Ireland seat cigarette BS EN 1021-1
seat small flame BS EN 1021-2
filling crib 5 BS 5852
*In Sweden, furniture flammability tests are voluntary
Chivas, C, et al. Fire Safety Journal (44) 2009, 801-807

7. Benefits
Difficult to Estimate

8. Number of Lives Saved Depends on Assumptions
3
0
1988 2002 2002
2005 Report
Another
calculation
Furniture
Fire Deaths
(per million
persons) 1
Regulations prevent
16 deaths/year
Smoke alarms
Smoking drop
Regulations
prevent 82
deaths/year
2005 EFRA Report:
• decrease in fire deaths all attributed to UK Regs 82/year
• Including smoking and smoke alarms 16/year
• Including fire safety education and safer heaters ?/year
100%
66%
33% 33%
20%
27%
20%

9. 2005 Surrey Report
Attributes decrease in furniture fires only to smoke
alarms and addition of FRs; no change in smoking

10. 1988
UK Furniture Regulations
Home Office Community
Fire Safety Campaign
1991
Smoke
Detectors
Act
1998/2000
Community Fire
Safety Center
National Media
Campaigns
2004
Home Risk Fire Check
program
Fire Safety Order 2005

11. average
lives saved
per year
2002-2007
2009 Report by Greenstreet Berman
2009
report
54
21
math errors
corrected
Questionable Assumptions further reduce estimate:
1) Smoke detectors contribute minimally to reducing furniture fire
deaths.
2) Decrease in smoking affects cooking and furniture fires equally.

12. Fire deaths per
million pop.
Netherlands Institute for Safety Nibra. Consumer fire safety: European statistics Versie: 431N8032/3.0, January 2009
Fire Death Rates in Europe (2006)

13. Harm from chemicals
and
fire toxicity?

14. Foam
Typical foam formulation includes:
• 20-25% melamine
• 5-15% Halogenated FRs including
- TCPP
- TDCP
- TL-10-ST (2,2-bis(chloromethyl) trimethylene
bis(bis(2-chloromethyl) phosphate)
- TBNPA (Tribromoneopentyl alcohol)
UK Regulation of Residential Furniture
Keeping Fire in Check. 2012, EFRA

15. Keeping Fire in Check. 2012, EFRA
Textiles
Typically back-coated with:
• Antimony tri-oxide
• Halogenated flame retardants
- Deca ethane
- DecaBDE
- Clorinated paraffins
- TTBPT (Tris(tribromophenyl)triazine)
- TL-10-ST (2,2-bis(chloromethyl)trimethylene
bis(bis(2-chloroethyl)phosphate)
UK Regulation of Residential Furniture
Toxicological Risks of Selected Flame-Retardant Chemicals. National Research Council. 2000

16. DecaBDE in Sludge and Dust Highest in UK
Sewage Sludge: Ricklund, N. et al. Chemosphere. 73 (2008) 1799-1804
House Dust: Harrad, S. et al. Environ. Int. 34 (2008) 232-238
520 µg/g
45 µg/g12 µg/g

17. flame retardants previously used in USA
Asbestos
Carbon tetrachloride
Halons
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs)
Halogenated organics:
• pentaBDE
• octaBDE
• decaBDE
• Dechlorane (Mirex)
• Brominated Tris
• Chloinated Tris (TDCPP)

18. Highest PentaBDE levels in Human Tissue
in Californians
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1981 1983 1985 1987 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000
PBDE-47,ng/glipids
California (adipose)
Sweden (serum)
Germany (whole blood)
Canada (milk)
Finland (milk)
Japan (milk)
Sweden (milk)
Petreas, et al 2001

19. Health effects
• Long term impacts
– Interference with thyroid hormone action
– Neurodevelopment: Decreased IQ, hyperactivity,
autism??
– Reproductive system effects: reduced ovarian
follicles, reduced sperm
– Birth Defects: Cryptorchidism, hypospadias
– Endocrine disruption, obesity
– Cancer

20. Currently 3,900 scientific articles
about PBDEs
ISI Web of Science and Vonderheide et al, 2008
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
19851987198919911993199519971999200120032005200720092011
NumberofPublications
Publication Year

21. PentaBDE human health associations
associated withHigher pentaBDE
lower birth weight
impaired attention
poorer coordination
lowered IQ
birth defects
longer time to get pregnant
altered thyroid hormones
Main 2007; Eskenazi et al, 2010, 2011, 2012

22. Toddlers have about three times the flame
retardant level of their mothers
© Rita Quinn
Lunder 2010; Bradman 2012

23. California
open flame standards

24. • TB 117:
Twelve second small open flame and smolder
standard for filling materials used in upholstered
furniture.
CALIFORNIA FURNITURE FLAMMABILITY STANDARDS

25. Home fires that began with upholstered furniture, NFPA, Aherns, Aug 2011
Smoking materials cause the most fire deaths
Smoking materials
(addressed by smolder standard)
Candles, lighters, matches
(addressed by TB117)
U.S. civilian deaths from home upholstered furniture fires,1980-2009

26. Smolder vs. open flame fires
Smolder fires
• The majority, relatively easy to prevent
• Flame retardants not needed to meet smolder
standards
Open flame fires
• Small number, difficult to prevent
• TB117 impacts:
– no significant fire safety benefit
– global PentaBDE contamination

27. :
Monday, June 18, 2012
California State Agencies Directed to Change
Open Flame Standard
TB117-2013
– Smolder standards for fabric
– Increased fire safety without flame retardants
– 85% of fabrics already pass
– 15% need to have a layer of non-FR polyester
batting between fabric and foam

28. • TB 133:
Severe flammability test procedure for
composite testing of seating furniture for use in
public occupancies.
Currently cannot be economically met without
flame retardant chemicals in the fabric, the
foam and/ or in the barriers

29. Comparison of furniture flammability
regulations
Open flameSmolder
Regulation How met? Regulation How met?
EU EN 1021-
1
Flame retardants not
commonly used
UK FFR (1988)/
BS 5852
Flame retardants/
barriers
CA TB117-
2013
Flame retardants not
needed
CA TB117 Flame retardants
CPSC 16 CFR
1634
Flame retardants not
needed
CA TB133 Flame retardants/
barriers
New CPSC
standard?

30. Can Furniture Flammability Standards in other
countries provide a model?
• Smolder standard in the EU, outside the
UK, are met without flame retardants.
• Open flame standards in California and the
UK have led to high levels of flame
retardants in dust and humans.
Significant fire safety benefit?
• Smolder standards such as 16CFR1634
can increase fire safety without flame
retardant chemicals

31. Toolbox for Fire Safety
• Decrease in smoking
• Smoke detectors
• Preventing ignition: Fire safe cigarettes,
candles, and lighters
• Sprinklers
• Fire Codes
• Fire safety education
• Furniture flammability regulations:
– Smolder: TB117-2013 and 16CFR1634
– Open flame “Barrier” standard
Benefit and harm for interventions?

32. With improved flammability standards
We can have increased fire safety
and a healthier world.
Google: Green Science Policy
www.greensciencepolicy.org