- Author
-
Krasny, J. F.
|
Allen, P. J.
|
Maldonado, A.
|
Juarez, N.
- Title
- Development of a Candidate Test Method for the Measurement of the Propensity of Cigarettes to Cause Smoldering Ignition of Upholstered Furniture and Mattresses. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NBSIR 81-2363,
October 1981,
42 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
cigarettes
|
flammability
|
ignition
|
mattresses
|
self-extinguishment
|
smoldering
|
upholstered furniture
|
weight loss rate
|
weight loss
- Abstract
- A candidate test method for the measurement of the propensity of cigarettes to cause smoldering ignition of upholstered furniture and mattresses was developed. It consists of placing burning cigarettes on pieces of a standard, alpha cellulose, chromatographic paper and measuring the weight loss rate of the paper/cigarette system. The result were compared to the propensity of cigarettes to ignite upholstered furniture substrates. The agreement was satisfactory. Of the approximately 30 cigarette brands investigated, most had a similar propensity to ignite the upholstered furniture substrates, but a few ignited fewer substrates, and exhibited longer times to ignition on those which ignited. Many upholstered furniture substrates resisted ignition by any cigarette, while others were ignited even by those commercial cigarettes which ranked lowest in ignition propensity in these tests. However, a substantial number of upholstered furniture types did ignite with some cigarettes but not with others. Self-extinguishement time does not define the propensity of a cigarette to ignite upholstered furniture.