- Author
- Braun, E. | Cobble, V. B. | Peacock, R. D. | Krasny, J. F. | Stratton, A. K. | Helzer, S.
- Title
- Back-up Report for the Proposed Standard for the Flammability of General Wearing Apparel. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C.
- Report
- NBSIR 76-1072, June 1976, 50 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- garments | burns (injuries) | ease of ignition | fabrics | flammability tests | heat transfer | standards
- Abstract
- A "Proposed Standard for the Flammability of General Wearing Apparel" was submitted to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in February 1976. This report discusses the reasons for the choices of experimental arrangement for the flammability test and the choices of pass-fail criteria. The specimen is cylindrical, to simulate a garment, and to eliminate framed specimens which often burn differently from garments. Criteria for the fire hazard of fabrics are the time to ignite with a specified gas flame and the heat transferred to sensors inside the burning specimen. The proposed standard specifies tht fabrics which transfer little heat to the inside of the specimens could be used in all garments but would have to be used in garments which cover most of the body and/or fit loosely. They would also have to be used in children's dresses and skirts (children's nightwear is covered by an earlier standard). Fabrics which transfer larger amounts of heat and thus have larger injury potential, could be used in garments with normal or tight fit such as most present-day shirts, slacks, etc. If such fabrics ignite in 1/2 secon or less, they would be excluded from use in garments. These provisions in the proposed standard were based on the need to reduce the number and severtile, covered by the standard, and points out areas in which have to be used is in garments