CPSC Moves on Mattress Fire Rule

Standard Would Slow Flames' Growth to Gain Escape Time

Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Harold Stratton announced a proposal designed to reduce deaths and injuries caused by mattress fires. (Ray Lustig -- The Washington Post)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission yesterday moved a step closer to issuing federal rules to reduce injuries and deaths caused by mattress fires.

By a 2 to 0 vote, the commission proposed a flammability standard that would require mattresses to be made to limit the growth of any fire caused by a candle, lighter or open flame for at least 30 minutes, to give people enough time to escape.

The commission said it also has plans to issue a proposed rule to reduce the flammability of blankets, comforters, pillows and other bedclothes that are often the first items to ignite, turning a mattress into a large volume of combustible fuel.

The agency's announcement represents significant progress on a seven-year-old issue, said Chairman Harold D. Stratton. However, even if the agency moves promptly to finalize the mattress standard, it would not take effect until mid-2006 at the earliest, industry and commission officials said yesterday. Any federal bedclothes regulation would take considerably longer.

The commission is also working on a flammability standard for upholstered furniture. That issue has been before the agency for a decade; a proposed rule is expected in early 2005.

Mattress and bedding fires cause about 440 deaths, 2,230 injuries and $274 million in property losses a year, the agency calculates. Agency staff said most of these deaths and injuries would be addressed by the standard. Upholstered furniture fires result in an estimated 580 deaths, 1,430 injuries, and $211.5 million in property losses annually, the agency said.

The proposed standard would be in addition to a 30-year-old rule that requires mattresses to resist ignition by smoldering cigarettes. That rule involves a different kind of test.

Under the new standard, a fire caused by an open flame could grow to no more than 200 kilowatts of heat within the first 30 minutes -- the equivalent of a computer-monitor fire. This theoretically should keep the fire from developing into a flashover, when the entire contents of a room ignite. A flashover occurs at about 1,000 kilowatts. of heat.

The agency's action comes two weeks before a similar standard takes effect in California. New Jersey has also been considering a standard, although current proposals limit the heat to 200 kilowatts for the first 60 minutes. A 60-minute standard is preferred by the National Association of State Fire Marshals. Robert Polk, senior policy adviser to the group, said, "Thirty minutes is not a great deal of time between when a fire originates and when help arrives, to safely evacuate someone who can't . . . on their own power," such as infants or the elderly.

The mattress industry, represented by the International Sleep Products Association, however, said a 60-minute rule would require materials that would make beds uncomfortable and expensive and might "discourage consumers from buying a new" and safer bed, said Ryan Trainer, the association's executive vice president.

The association has been pressing for one federal standard instead of several state standards. The commission said it has taken time for staff to develop technical standards; also of concern was the toxicity of flame retardants. Government studies have shown there are at least eight compounds that can be used without adverse health risks.