4 ms·
And cigarettes, for a very specific reason. Fire safety testing for furniture upholstery involves testing that it resists being ignited by a lit cigarette. The
by Ichthypresbyter 2y ago
And cigarettes, for a very specific reason.
Fire safety testing for furniture upholstery involves testing that it resists being ignited by a lit cigarette. The problem is that since the test protocol was written, states (starting with New York) have passed laws requiring cigarettes to be less able to ignite furniture! So upholstery materials that would fail the test with a cigarette from the 1970s, when the standard was written, might now pass it.
In response, NIST developed a standard cigarette which burns like one from 1992 to ensure consistency in these tests.
(There is also a standard cigarette used to calibrate measurement of the ignition strength of cigarettes)
https://www.nist.gov/fire/history/standard-reference-cigarettes-quality-control-ignition-test-results-2000s https://www.nist.gov/fire/history/standard-reference-cigaret...
- toomuchtodo 2y agoThe first part is odd, because it feels like consistency is not important. The industry might not need to put as much resources into fire retardants if cigarettes are getting less flammable over time, and I assume cigarettes have a lifetime you can assume they will exist for by vintage. Static reference cigarette does make sense though.
- Ichthypresbyter 2y agoCigarettes aren't the only thing that might ignite furniture- there's also the risk of, say, a child playing with matches, or a set of hair straighteners left on. Or, of course, smoking materials other than mass-produced cigarettes, like joints or hand-rolled cigarettes.