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‘Fire safer’ cigarettes – saving lives from fires |
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As the UK moves towards a nation-wide ban on smoking in public places, London Fire Brigade Commissioner Sir Ken Knight suggests this could lead to an increased risk of house fires caused by smoking in the home. He advocates the use of ‘fire safer’ cigarettes, claiming their introduction across Europe could have a similar effect in reducing deaths and injuries as the foam filled regulations
The Risk
Around the world, the available fire statistics carry the same message in relation to accidental fires in dwellings; that fires started by smoking materials present the greatest risk to life and property. It has been identified in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that an accidental fire in a domestic environment started by a smouldering cigarette presents a higher risk of death and injury than from any other accidental cause of fire.
In the UK in 2003, the careless disposal of cigarettes was responsible for only eight per cent of the total of all dwelling fires; yet they were responsible for almost one third of all deaths in such fires. That is a fatality rate of 30 deaths per 1,000 fires, compared to eight per 1,000 for all causes of accidental firesi. The figures for non fatal casualties show a similar picture, with the injury rate from smoking materials at 340 per 1,000 fires against 209 for all causesii. Tragically, it is not only the smoker that is the victim of these fires. In the UK two out of five victims were not the smoker but individuals in the same household, particularly children and older people.iii
Clearly the greatest health and safety benefits for society would be gained from the elimination of the use of tobacco products, but realistically that day is some way off. Meanwhile there is a technical solution that can reduce the number of deaths and injuries and property damage from fire.
A Technical Solution
Domestic smoke alarms are part of the answer to achieving safer dwellings, but the smouldering nature of dropped cigarettes and the close proximity to the source of the fire of many of the victims means that they have often succumbed before the smoke alarm has alerted them to the fire. Although the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1989 and 1993)iv have undoubtedly reduced the number of deaths and serious injuries, fires started by smokers’ materials remain the highest risk type of household fire.
In my view, the single technological solution with the greatest potential to reduce the number of deaths and injuries at a small cost is the ‘fire safer’ sometimes called the reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarette, sometimes, misleadingly, called the ‘fire safe’ cigarette. Any changes which can reduce the likelihood of fires and fire deaths/injuries caused by cigarettes must surely be welcomed by all. It has been estimated that replacing conventional cigarettes for ‘fire safer’ cigarettes into the UK would have saved between 30-78 lives and 341 - 886 injuries in 2003.v
This is not a new solution. The first USA patent for a ‘self-extinguishing’ cigarette was issued in 1854.vi
In 1929 as a result of a fire in Massachusetts, USA, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) was encouraged to look into technology that would render a cigarette ‘self snubbing’. After two years of research the NBS had developed a prototype.vii In the last two decades there has been significant research effort into a range of techniques for reducing the ignition propensity of cigarettes and into the methods of measuring and testing the changes of smouldering behaviour of the cigarettes and the impact that this may have in reducing the number of accidental fires that would be started in this way.
The smouldering behaviour of a cigarette can be modified by a number of methods, such as reducing tobacco density, reducing the porosity of the cigarette paper, reducing the circumference of the cigarette and by varying the amount of burn additive placed in the papers. The ‘fire safer’ cigarettes currently on the market in the USA, Canada and New Zealand are manufactured with a patented paper which has rings of ultra thin paper applied to conventional cigarette paper. The manufacturers claim that these act as ‘speed bumps’ to slow down or stop smouldering.
The cigarette industry has had concerns about the introduction of requirements for reduced ignition propensity. Their concerns include the possibility that smokers will be less careful with ‘fire safer’ cigarettes than with conventional cigarettes. In fact a qualitative consumer research survey carried out by the industry indicated consumers would not change their level of safety behaviour.viii The industry also had concerns about the available technology and consumer acceptability that appear to have been overcome, judging by the availability of ‘fire safer’ cigarettes around the world. A Canadian cost compliance assessment estimated the additional cost of introducing RIP cigarettes to be 2.5–4.5 per cent of the retail cost of a packet of conventional cigarettes but the benefits would exceed the costs by a factor of two or moreix.
Methods of TestingThe testing method for measuring the performance of ‘fire safer’ cigarettes has long been an issue for the tobacco industry. The ignition of materials by a smouldering cigarette is a complex process that depends on many factors that are impossible to replicate in a single standard testing method.
What is clear, however, is that a cigarette which smoulders less readily or for a shorter period of time generates less heat and therefore transfers less heat to the object it is in contact with, reducing the propensity for ignition of the materials concerned. In the early 1990s the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) developed a test that has been accepted by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM E2187 – 02b).x The test measures the frequency with which the sample cigarettes burn to their full length when placed on layers of filter paper. The cigarette industry has concerns that the test does not replicate the real world environment in which the fires occur. The difficulty with tests involving furniture mockups is the ability to consistently reproduce the same test in laboratories around the world since the materials used in furniture are highly variable and constantly changing.
The filter paper method has the advantage of using a material that is commonly used in scientific laboratories and has a prescribed quality thus permitting testing to high standards of consistency. The ASTM E2187 – 02b test has also been demonstrated to have a good correlation with ignition tests that use furniture mock-ups and therefore can be taken to reflect the real world of fires in dwellings.xi Research was carried out in January 2006 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that sought to undertake comparative cigarette ignition tests on a range of textiles and related materials used in domestic furnishings available at the lower price end of the UK market.
The ignition tests were carried out using one type of ‘low cost’ cigarette available in the UK and two types of ‘fire safer’ cigarettes purchased for the purpose from the USA. The conclusion was that ‘the results of the tests indicate the chosen RIP cigarettes do reduce the risk of inducing flaming ignition or progressive smouldering in the materials tested, but the risk is not eliminated. Typically 91 per cent of the standard UK cigarettes caused flaming or smouldering. With RIP cigarettes this figure reduced to 69 per cent with the cigarette with a higher burn length and rate and to 34 per cent with the cigarette,xii with the lowest burn length and rate, when tested to ASTM E2187 – 02b.
Progress Around the World
In June 2004, New York State required all cigarettes sold to be RIP. Statistics from the Office of Fire Prevention and Control in New York State show that an average of 32 people a year died from smoking-related fire deaths in 2004 and 2005. That is down by one quarter from the average of 43 smoking-related deaths in each of the four years prior to the introduction of the standard. Whilst it is only a relatively short period over which to measure changes the number of fatalities, it is a very encouraging beginning. Canada introduced a similar requirement nationwide in October 2005. Vermont, introduced the law in May 2006 and California on January 1, 2007. In each of these cases it is too soon to assess the impact of the legislation.
There is growing interest in Europe, where it is estimated that over 1,300 lives a year could be saved in the 25 EU member states if ‘fire safer’ cigarettes replaced the existing standard cigarettes.xiii The EU is considering the possibility of setting standards under the General Product Safety Directive which the UK government has agreed to support. It is estimated that one in six cigarettes smoked in the UK is illicitly imported xiv making the introduction of standards on a European basis particularly important to maximise the impact of ‘fire safer’ cigarettes on fire safety in the home.
UK Campaign
A new coalition, called the RIP Coalition, has been formed in the UK to campaign for the introduction of standards in the UK. The coalition includes the Chief Fire Officers Association, Fire Officers Association, Fire Brigades Union and fire services, as well as the British Burns Association, public health organisations and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health. It is joining forces with the EU RIP Alliance to push for new legislation to introduce a RIP standard for cigarettes across Europe, which could reduce the risk of fires by up to two thirds.
As the UK moves towards a nationwide ban on smoking in public places, there exists the possibility that changes in smokers’ behaviour could result in people smoking more at home, in a high fire risk environment, raising further the unacceptable risk to themselves and their families.
I am delighted that this new coalition has been set up to work for European regulations requiring cigarettes to be fire safer. This standard has already been shown to work in the United States and Canada, and could mean a big fall in the number of domestic fires if it was introduced in the UK and across the European Union. Far too many people still die or are seriously injured every year in avoidable fires involving cigarettes. As far as the fire and rescue service is concerned, the sooner the new standard comes in, the better.
The introduction of ‘fire safer’ cigarettes in Europe could have a similar effect in the reduction of fire injuries and deaths as the foam filled regulations did 20 years ago.
- i Comparisons of the propensity of fire safe cigarettes and conventional cigarettes to ignite textile materials used in a domestic environment. Fire Research Report 8. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. January 2006
- ii Fire Statistics. UK, 2003 http://www.comunities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1163174
- iii Comparisons of the propensity of fire safe cigarettes and conventional cigarettes to ignite textile materials used in a domestic environment. Fire Research Report 8. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. January 2006
- iv The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1989 and 1993) Statutory Instruments 1988/1324, 1989/2358, 1993//207.
- v Comparisons of the propensity of fire safe cigarettes and conventional cigarettes to ignite textile materials used in a domestic environment. Fire Research Report 8. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. January 2006
- vi The Case for fire safe cigarettes made through industry documents. M Gunja, G Ferris Wayne, A Landman, G Connolly and A McGuire. Tobacco Control 2002; 11; 346 -353.
- vii To burn or not to burn: an advocate’s report from the field. A McGuire. Injury Prevention. 2005; 11; 264-266
- viii The Case for fire safe cigarettes made through industry documents. M Gunja, G Ferris Wayne, A Landman, G Connolly and A McGuire. Tobacco Control 2002;11; 346-353.
- ix Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement for the proposed Cigarette Ignition Propensity Regulations and proposed Regulations amending the Tobacco Reporting Regulations. Health Canada 1 May 2005.
- x Robustness of Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes with ASTM Method E2187 – 02b. NIST Technical note 1454.
- xi Comparisons of the propensity of fire safe cigarettes and conventional cigarettes to ignite textile materials used in a domestic environment. Fire Research Report 8. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. January 2006
- xii ibid
- xiii http://www.ash.org.uk/html/press/061113.html
- xiv New responses to new challenges: Reinforcing the Tackling Tobacco Smuggling Strategy. HM Revenue & Customs. March 2006 |
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