CPSC Votes to Begin Rulemaking to Improve the Fire Safety of Mattresses
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NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2001
Release # 02-001
CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Ken Giles, (301) 504-7052

CPSC Votes to Begin Rulemaking to Improve the Fire Safety of Mattresses

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted (3-0) today to begin developing a safety standard to reduce the severity of mattress fires and to make mattresses less flammable. The new standard will address fires ignited by sources such as candles, matches and lighters. The goal is to minimize the deaths and injuries from fires started in bedding and mattresses by limiting the size and spread of the fire. There already is a federal standard requiring mattresses to be resistant to cigarette ignition.

Mattress and bedding fires are one of the leading causes of injuries and were second only to upholstered furniture in the number of fire-related deaths in 1998. In 1998, mattresses or bedding items were first to ignite in about 18,100 residential fires that resulted in 390 deaths and 2,160 hospital emergency room injuries. Additionally, these fires cost more than $200 million in property damage. CPSC estimates that a new safety standard could significantly reduce the deaths, injuries and property damage from mattress-related fires.

"Tragically, young children are often the victims of mattress fires," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "From 1994 through 1998, over three-quarters of the deaths relating to mattress and bedding fires ignited from such sources as candles, lighters and matches were to children under the age of 15."

Most of these fires begin when a small, open flame ignites bedding. The bedding fire can then grow into a much larger fire involving the mattress.

Today's vote directs the CPSC staff to issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) for publication in the Federal Register, which is the first step in agency rulemaking.

Since 1998, CPSC has been researching options for addressing mattress fire hazards from open flames. The Sleep Product Safety Council, a non-profit organization associated with the mattress industry, is sponsoring research at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop an effective performance test. CPSC is sponsoring NIST to develop a related, small-scale screening test.

As part of its ongoing work on mattress flammability, the Commission also considered four petitions from the Children's Coalition for Fire-Safe Mattresses. The first two petitions, which were granted, requested that residential mattresses pass two specific open-flame tests. In the course of the rulemaking, CPSC will recommend the best testing approach after examining the technical research currently underway. The other two petitions requested labeling requirements. Labeling options will be evaluated during the rulemaking proceeding.

Statements by CPSC Chairman Ann Brown, and Commissioners Thomas H. Moore and Mary Sheila Gall are below.



Statement of the Honorable Ann Brown
Vote on Mattress Flammability

October 2, 2001

I voted today to publish an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to develop a safety standard to make mattresses less flammable.

Of all the products within CPSC's jurisdiction, mattress and bedding fires is one of the leading causes of residential fire deaths -- second only to upholstered furniture in the number of deaths. In 1998, mattress and bedding fires resulted in 18,100 residential fires - causing 390 deaths, 2160 injuries, and over $208 million in property damage.

Tragically, young children are most often the victims of these fires. From 1994 through 1998, children under the age of 15 represented over 75 percent of the deaths in mattress and bedding fires ignited by candles matches and lighters.

Since 1998, the staff has been working on mattress and bedding fires and evaluating possible options to address the hazard.

We are currently working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Sleep Product Safety Council on research that can be used to develop an effective performance test that can be used in a standard to address this problem.

I commend the staff for its excellent work on this project and urge all parties to support the Commission's efforts to move forward with this proposed standard as quickly as possible to complete the work on this important standard.



Statement of the Honorable Mary Sheila Gall In Favor of
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking On Mattress Flammability

October 2, 2001

I voted today in favor of issuing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require that mattresses meet certain flammability criteria when exposed to small open-flame ignition sources. The losses associated with such fires are of significant magnitude and warrant possible regulation. In addition, Commission staff and industry representatives have developed both a test method that reliably and realistically simulates small-open flame ignition of mattresses, and possible technologies to prevent flashover from burning mattresses.

This rulemaking represents a model for government and industry cooperation. The Commission staff has conducted field investigations that showed that most small open-flame ignition incidents involve bedding materials first, followed by ignition of the mattress. Industry's Sleep Products Safety Council sponsored research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology that provided the technological basis for testing methods and future performance requirements. This work has resulted in the first step being taken towards a realistic standard that prevents a mattress fire resulting in flashover and the associated ignition of all flammable surfaces in the immediate area.



Statement of Commissioner Thomas H. Moore On Issuance of ANPR
to Address Open Flame Ignition of Mattresses/Bedding

October 2, 2001

Today I am voting to issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that could result in a flammability standard designed to reduce the hazard of open flame ignition of mattresses/bedding. In doing so, I am also voting to grant two petitions submitted by the Children's Coalition for Fire Safe Mattresses (CCFSM) that request that the Commission initiate rulemaking to adopt a full-scale test and a small-scale component test similar to California TB-129 and British Standard BS 5852, respectively. I am voting to grant these petitions with the full understanding that a rulemaking will not necessarily result in adoption of these specific tests. Other options for a full- scale test and a small-scale component test are being considered so that the Commission can determine the best approach to take to reduce deaths and injuries.

I am also voting to deny two other petitions submitted by CCFSM that request that the Commission initiate rulemaking to require certain polyurethane foam combustibility warning labeling and fire-proof mattress identification tags. I agree with staff that the warning labels do not accurately represent the hazard from the complete mattress product and the identification tags will not reduce fire losses. However, I do think that we should be continuously mindful that public education of a hazard does have some merit in reducing the risk of injury and death associated with that hazard.

Our data indicate that, among all products within the Commission's jurisdiction, mattress and bedding fires are a leading cause of injury and, in recent years, were second only to upholstered furniture in the number of deaths. We know that mattresses present a unique and complicated problem because of the involvement of bedding materials in the source of ignition. Any performance standard that simply deters ignition of the mattress without consideration of the effect of the potential ignition source in the bedding materials couldn't possibly be effective or reasonable.

That is why our staff has been and is presently involved in a methodical, scientific and cooperative approach to finding the best way to address this problem. Commission and industry sponsored research and test development efforts, designed to measure and define clearly the fire risk involved in residential mattress fire scenarios, are underway at NIST. This research has already provided useful data regarding the behavior of real life mattress fires and burning bedding situations. There are some preliminary indications that suggest that limiting fire intensity and preventing flashover could significantly reduce the number of victims of these fires by providing more time to escape.

Today I am voting to begin this rulemaking process but the Commission staff has already been involved in evaluating these fires and potential options for addressing this hazard for several years. I think that there has been significant progress made toward developing a standard that does not involve excessive testing cost nor unnecessarily limit mattress designs, constructions, and materials that could provide a reduced fire hazard. I sincerely hope that we can continue to have the kind of cooperation that has led to the progress that we have seen thus far. Continued cooperation among all interested parties is the key to a scientifically sound and supportable process that can now move expeditiously toward the ultimate goal of reducing the number of injuries and deaths associated with these fire scenarios.