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Christian, S. D. (2002) Recent actions within Europe in respect of the use of chemical flame-retardant, www.fitting-in.com/christian1 |
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Recent actions within Europe in respect of the use ofchemical flame-retardant.
Professor SD Christian*
University of Ulster Jordanstown Campus School of the Built Environment Newtownabbey Co. Antrim BT37 0QB Northern Ireland *Address – Stansted House, Shire Hill, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 3AQ. |
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Abstract: The data, over many years support the thesis that the ignition of
clothing on the person has the propensity to cause severe injury, or
death. Particularly identified as at
risk are elderly females and young children when their sleepwear is
ignited. This often occurs when the
garment is exposed to a small, open flame, such as a match, candle or
nightlight etc. In many
instances, at the national level in the European Union, there is no
Regulation of the fire behaviour (ignitability, rate of burning) of
sleepwear. The exception is the
United Kingdom [1] and the Republic of Ireland where there are long-standing
controls in existence. This Paper examines progress, at the European level, in the
consideration of the introduction of European legislation covering the fire
behaviour of sleepwear and the use of chemical flame retardant. Please Note - Certain
terminology, the use of which is deprecated when applied to textiles, has
been used in this Paper. This is
because the documentation from both the Commission Services and CEN in the
form of the Feasibility Study uses this terminology and for the sake of
clarity, it has also been used in this Paper. |
Introduction:
Under
the provisions of the revision of the General Products Safety Directive
(92/59/EEC) there has been a significant advance in the evaluation of the
safety in terms of fire performance of sleepwear used within the European
Union.
European
consumer safety policy is reflected in the Amsterdam treaty and underpinned in
the Commission’s Consumer Policy Action
Plan.
European
Standards for consumer products are important; they are one of the means of
proving that products are safe and fulfil the ‘state of the art’ in design and
manufacture. Manufacturers/distributors
of products in compliance with a Standard limit their liability if there is an
accident. This is clearly reflected in
the General Products Safety Directive (GPSD) which is currently under revision. This Directive explicitly calls up
standards.
Several
of the Member States, most notably the United Kingdom and The Republic of
Ireland, have long had regulations controlling the fire behaviour of
sleepwear. The revision of the GPSD is
aimed at bringing all such Regulation closer together.
To
achieve the necessary technical standards for assessing the fire behaviour of
sleepwear, the Commission has mandated the European Standards body (CEN) to
produce the requisite technical standards.
The Mandate (M/304) was formally approved and accepted by the CEN
Technical Board in December 2001 and has now been passed to CEN technical
committee CEN TC248 – Textiles.
The
technical standards now required include the fire behaviour (ease of ignition
and surface spread of flame); consideration of the toxicology and use of flame
retardant and the design of such garments.
The
technical committee have passed this work item to sub-committee 1 – Burning
behaviour of textiles, textile products and textile containing products, who
have established a new working group (WG 6) under the convenorship of Dr. Don
Christian. The Italian Secretariat to
sub-committee 1, circulated the CEN national standards bodies requesting
nominations for membership and the first meeting of the Working Group took
place in Frankfurt in November 2001.
Given the tight time scale for the development of the Mandated technical
standards, we should see a period of intense activity in this area.
Definitions
For
the purposes of this discussion, nightwear is defined as a garment supplied as
nightwear intended by production or wear, which is similar to and commonly worn
as nightwear. In particular, this
includes bathrobes, negligees snuggle wraps, dressing gowns, night-dresses and
pyjamas.
Flame
retardant treatments effective on the range of fibres/textiles commonly used in
the manufacture of the above garments may be conferred:
during
fibre manufacture to give ‘inherent’ flame retardancy;
as
a chemical treatment to the textile usually in fabric form and prior to making
up into the final garment.
Inherently
flame retardant fibres usually involve the use of flame retardant comonomic
species within the fibre-forming molecule structure or as an additive
introduced during the production process, e.g. Trevira CS. In either case, it is assumed that the flame
retardant agent is ‘locked in’ to the fibre structure, hence is immobile and
does not create a toxicological hazard whilst in the solid state.
Flame
retardant treatments may also involve an application by a textile finishing
process and may use auxiliary chemical to enhance penetration into the fibres
and/or fixation on to the individual textile fibres. After curing, finishes, which are durable to laundering, may also
be considered to be ‘locked in’ to the fibre microstructure.
The
chemistry of flame retardant textile finishing has been reviewed elsewhere and
it was decided in this Paper to ignore all non- and semi-durable chemical
treatments that were available. Only
those treatments e.g. Pyrovatex, Proban, that were considered durable to
domestic laundering and should usually withstand at least 50 such cycles
without any loss of flame retardant properties were considered.
Background
There
has been some research covering the fire behaviour of nightwear. Whilst limited studies have been completed
in Norway; Denmark and the Netherlands, the most comprehensive study covering
the ignition of clothing on the person, is one completed in the United Kingdom
on behalf of the British Government [2].
This
Study [2] showed that there are at
least 750 clothing flammability accidents each year in the UK – 13.3 accidents
per million population (pmp). This
number remains approximately stable each year (± 25%).
It
is estimated that about 11% of these clothing accidents are fatal (1.4 pmp) and
89% are non-fatal of which 30% involve severe burns requiring in-patient
admission to hospital. The study showed
that females account for 55% of all clothing flammability accidents, with males
at 45%.
The
proportion of accidents that can be classed as severe, increases significantly
for children under the age of 14 years and elderly people over the age of 60
years. The study showed that the
fatalities are almost entirely in the over 60 years age group (82%) –
especially in the over 70 years age group.
The
study [2] suggests that one of the principal reasons for the disproportionate
number of severe/fatal accidents amongst older people is that:
They
are often unaware that their clothing has ignited;
They
lack the motive capabilities to extinguish the flames;
They
are often alone; and
They
suffer a more profound reaction to the injuries (burns) they receive.
The
study also suggests that the actual design of the clothing can be a major
contributory factor as well.
The
most frequent sources of ignition for clothing accidents was determined as
naked flames from gas cookers; gas/coal fires; candles, matches and cigarette
lighters. This group accounted for 75%
of all known causes.
Daywear
accounted for about 60% of all accidents and sleepwear (specifically
nightdresses and dressing gowns) for about 28%.
The
study [2] concluded that:
The
highest risk group were women over 70 years old; girls under 18 and men over
the age of 70 years;
Boys
aged between 14-17 were especially prone to minor accidents, usually playing
with matches, lighters and outside fires;
Clothing
at highest risk was loose fitting, flowing garments (especially dresses,
dressing gowns and night-dresses) worn by women.
No
specific type of fibre could be identified as being consistently of higher
risk.
This
was confirmed by other studies in the United Kingdom [3] and Finland [4].
The
materials commonly used in the manufacture of all such garments, commonly used
as nightwear, are usually lightweight and either natural fibres (cotton) or
man-made (polyester, polyamide) or a mixture of both. In many cases, fabrics comprising these fibres or fibre mixes can
be easily ignited by the most common small ignition sources (matches, candles
etc).
It
is not uncommon therefore, for such materials to be made flame-retardant in
order to reduce the likelihood of ignition or to reduce the rate of burning,
should ignition occur.
European Actions
At
the request of The Netherlands, the Commission Services agreed to consider the
need for European action under the auspices of the General Product Safety
Directive.
The
basis of the Dutch request was that they were concerned that certain types of
textile display undesirable nfire properties identified as ease of ignition
from small flaming sources and rapid flame propagation. This was very much in keeping with the
experience in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
Dutch
proposals for national Regulation had been considered, it was agreed that the
issue was left to self-regulation. At
this time however, discussion has been on going between the industry and the
relevant authorities. This had not been
satisfactory and there was now agreement in the Netherlands that the optimum
approach was for European harmonisation.
Following
this formal approach, the Commission Services have tried to rationalise the
problems and identified the main concerns as:
Fires
involving nightwear can lead to serious and sometime fatal injuries. The burns to the body may be painful and
lead to permanent scarring depending on the degree of burning and area of body
surface involved. The degree of
disfigurement can lead to profound psychiatric problems in later life. The medical and sometimes psychiatric
treatment required may take a very long time and is, in many cases, very
expensive in terms of healthcare and related costs.
To
reduce the speed of spread of flame on certain textiles such as 100% cotton or
cotton/polyester, it is normally necessary to use a flame retardant. The use of such flame retardant in other
materials in common use, such as 100% FR Polyester (i.e. Trevira CS) has not
been necessary as the flame retardant property is induced during the
manufacture stage.
The
proposals for a Directive prohibiting the use of certain flame-retardant containing
polybromine are still under consideration.
To date, only polybromine diphenil has been prohibited at Community
level. An agreement on prohibition or
limitation of the use of polybromine exists within OECD.
The
current work programme within CEN TC248 – Textiles, Sub-committee 1 – Burning
behaviour of textiles, textile products and textile-containing products, has
been directed towards the preparation of test methods only. The Sub-committee has yet to consider
classification or performance standards.
These
conclusions were presented to the Member States at the meeting of the Committee
established by Directive 83/189/EEC on 27 April 1997. A majority of delegations expressed concern about the complexity
of the problem with the existence of different types of risks, both fire and
toxicological. All delegations were in
favour of feasibility (Study) Mandate aimed at a deeper investigation of the
problems and the possibilities of producing a requirements standard.
Study Mandate M/263 [5]
A
Mandate from the Commission Services is a device by which certain objectives
are achieved. They may take one of
several forms and in this instance, the Mandate was classified as a ‘Study
Mandate’.
The
description of the Mandated work was that the European Standards Body (CEN) was
requested to carry out a feasibility study concerning the production of a
requirement standard for flammability of nightwear. The study was also to consider the use of materials with a
burning behaviour, which reduces the burning risks and the use of flame
retardant, also taking account of the toxic nature.
The
draft Study Mandate was passed to Technical Committee TC248 and accepted by the
delegations to the TC. The work item
was passed to Sub-committee 1 who established two Task Groups with the
assignment to analyse the state of the art on the relative subjects, taking
into account the existing literature.
Scope of the Feasibility Study
The
study was designed to discuss the possibilities of producing standards for the
requirements of the flammability aspects of nightwear, taking into account the
risk-situations described in the Mandate and prospects to require the use of:
Materials
with a burning behaviour which reduces the burning risks, also taking account
cultural habits concerning the use of different materials;
Flame
retardants, also taking into account the toxic nature of a number of flame
retardants;
Other
means to reduce the risk of burns.
It
was the clear intention of this Study Mandate, to provide the basis of a
further, Standardisation Mandate.
Results
of the Feasibility Study
The
conclusion of the Technical Committee TC 248, having considered the Report from
Sub-committee 1, based on the work of the Task Groups was that it was
considered feasible to produce requirements standards on the fire resistance of
nightwear in terms of burning behaviour and toxicological characteristics.
It
was considered that:
EN
1103:1995 [6] could be considered, as a basis for a standard for flammability
of nightwear and a classification scheme should be included in a separate
standard.
A
protocol needed to be established which would enable the toxicological
properties of flame retardant-treated fabrics to be established based on direct
contact. Extract exposures and a full
risk-benefit model were also to be developed and established using current
experience, which would define acceptability limits for each flame retardant
when applied to a fabric.
Other
aspects which can influence the burning behaviour of nightwear
The
Sub-committee Task Group considered there were two significant, additional
aspects that could influence the burning behaviour of nightwear. These were:
Cleansing
and drying;
The
design of nightwear.
Cleansing
and drying
The
capability of inappropriate washing procedures to reduce, or even remove
completely, the effect of a chemical flame retardant have been well
documented. One significant Finnish
study [7], confirmed that washing had an influence on flame spread rate of some
materials.
Design of nightwear
There
have been many reports published on the design parameters of garments and their
effect on the fire behaviour. One of
the most recent [8] by Belshaw, confirmed many of the previous, earlier
conclusions.
Toxicology of flame retardant nightwear
In
something of a novel approach, the feasibility study addressed the current
understanding of the toxicology of flame retardant used in nightwear.
The
study did not concern itself with the effects that flame retardant may have on
the toxic potency of the fire gases associated with burning garments.
Rather,
the Task Group defined three main tasks as follows:
To
provide an informed statement, within the limits of current knowledge, of the
possible dermatological and toxicological risks that flame retardant nightwear
present to the consumer when wearing a garment and when subjecting it to
aftercare treatments;
To
focus especially on chemical treatments, finishes or coatings which may be
usefully applied to otherwise flammable nightwear in order to create durable
flame retardancy;
To
identify any possible negative environmental factors associated with the use of
flame retardant and subsequently treated nightwear.
In
order to address these issues, the Task Group consulted published literature
and the main European suppliers of flame retardant treatments of textiles.
Whilst
the ‘Tris’ issue and it subsequent banning in 1977 was one of the first cases
to raise the issue of toxicological properties of flame retardant
textiles. Since that time, concern and
public attention has probably focussed mainly on the use of the
antimony-bromine systems.
Greater
focus was provided when the possible role of antimony III oxide in ‘cot deaths’
or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was raised on UK television in
1994. Although generally refuted and
subsequently shown to be without foundation [9], the image of such finishes in
general is poor within the media and environmental circles.
Assessing the risk
Given
the particular requirements of nightwear in terms of low ignition propensity
and slow burning behaviour coupled with desirable aesthetics, there is some
degree of self-selection of fibres and flame-retardant variants. However, in anticipation of new fibres and
flame retardant in addition to variants of those currently available and in
order to maximise consumer choice, any minimal toxicological and
ecotoxicological criteria should be applicable to any material.
All
such risk assessments must be balanced against the benefit being conferred upon
the textile by the flame retardant by virtue of its increased fire safety
thereby enabling a measure of the fire risk benefit to be quantified.
There
have been a number of such reports produced, the most significant being that
produced for the European Commission by Professor Binetti [10] and for the UK
Department of Trade and Industry [11].
Conclusions
and recommendations from the feasibility study
From
the study completed in response to European Commission Mandate M/263, it was
considered feasible to produce requirement standards on the fire resistance of
nightwear in terms of burning behaviour and toxicological characteristics. The following, specific, recommendations
were made:
EN1103:1995
could be considered as a basis for a standard for flammability of nightwear
without any distinction between children and adults nightwear;
Modifications
should be made to EN1103 as follows:
the
scope should include nightwear;
the
definition of (flame) surface flash should be revised;
flame
spread and surface flash should be measured both before and after cleansing and
drying;
A
classification scheme should be included in a separate standard;
No
requirement regarding labelling should be made.
In
respect of the toxicology of flame retardant, it was agreed that potential
toxicological and ecotoxicological properties of flame retardant in isolation
are covered by Regulations relating to use of hazardous chemicals in general
and respective Community Member environmental and health and safety legislation
and regulations. However it was
recommended that:
A
protocol needs to be established which enables the toxicological properties of
flame retardant-treated fabrics to be established, based on direct contact and
extract exposures;
A
full risk-benefit model should be developed and established using current
experience, which will define acceptability limits for each flame retardant
when applied to a fabric;
Based
on b. above, acceptable minimal levels of acceptable toxicological and
ecotoxicological reactions should be defined.
Actions following the Feasibility Study
Following
the acceptance of the Study by both the Commission Services and CEN Management
Centre, a further Mandate was drafted and presented to CEN. Mandate M/304 – Standardisation Mandate to
CEN relative to fire resistance of nightwear was passed to the CEN Technical
Committee TC248 – Textiles for acceptance.
Following
specific amendments and alterations, the Mandate was eventually accepted on 28
June 2000 under the framework standardisation mandate arrangements in the field
of consumer safety. The technical
committee has passed the New Work Item to Sub-committee 1 – Fire behaviour of
textiles, textile products and textile related products who have established a
specific Working Group to consider the requirements - Working Group 6, Fire
Safety of Nightwear. This Working Group
is convened by the author.
Acceptance
by CEN of this Mandate started the Standstill Period referred to in Article 7
of the Council Directive 98/34/EEC of 22 June 1998 (Of No L 204/37 of 21 July 1998.0
Section
4 of the Mandate deals with Safety requirements and this establishes a number
of principles that must now be considered by the standardisation body. They include, as a general principle that
the standards must provide for the requirements of the General Product Safety
Directive (92/59/CE) to be met.
According
to Article 2b, a safe product shall mean any product which, under normal or
reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, including duration, does not present
any risk or only minimum risk compatible with the product’s use, considered as
acceptable and consistent with a high level of protection for the safety and
health of persons.
Other, specific,
requirements include:
The
fire resistance of nightwear must be as high as possible, taking into account
the parameters above;
Nightwear
intended for children and disabled people shall provide a higher fire safety
level because children and disabled people cannot handle fire situations
properly;
Nightwear
shall be manufactured so that it does not present health risks arising from the
chemical properties of the fabrics of which they are made or from the
substances and preparations used in treating and coating the nightwear. Risks of acute or chronic poisoning,
corrosive, irritant or allergenic effects, or other serious adverse effects
including inter alia, carcinogenic,
mutagenic, genotoxic or developmental effects arising from ingestion, skin
contact and inhalation must be avoided;
Fumes
released during combustion of nightwear should not be dangerous for health,
taking into account the time of exposure to the fumes and their toxicity.
The
feasibility study identified a set of parameters, which determined the fire
resistance of nightwear and these must be taken into account by the proposed
standard. The study identified especially
that rate of flame spread and flame surface flash as the main two parameters to
be considered. Test methods capable of
measuring these two main parameters must therefore be determined.
Besides,
the influence on burning behaviour of other aspects such as care maintenance
(nightwear aged by cleansing and drying) and design of nightwear is also
emphasised and must be addressed in the proposed standards. The influence of the melting of fibres of
different nature must also be addressed.
Finally,
a classification scheme for fabrics and blended fabrics shall also be
determined.
In
the case of flame retardant, the proposed standard must provide for clear
guidance on the possible use of flame retardant substances and preparations
according to the following principles:
Flame
retardant substances and preparations should not have been prohibited by
Community legislation;
The
only flame retardant substances and preparations that can be used are those for
which the Scientific Committee for Toxicity, Eco-toxicity and Environment
(SCTEE) of the European commission has carried out evaluations showing that
they do not pose any acceptable risks;
Flame
retardant substances and preparations should not have been assessed according
to the provisions of Regulations 93/793/EEC as posing unacceptable risks in
their foreseen use as textile flame retardant.
They should not have been classified as dangerous to human health
according to the provisions of Directive 67/548/EEC and Directive 88/379/EEC.
Conclusions
The
time scale for the preparation of the Mandated technical standards is short in
as much the clock is already running and has been since the acceptance by CEN
of the Mandate itself.
The
implications for the future safety of nightwear are considerable. Once the necessary Mandated technical
standards have been agreed, sleepwear sold throughout the European Union will
have to comply with the agreed performance requirements. Consumers can look forward to an enhanced
level of fire safety for nightwear.
References:
[1] The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations.
Statutory Instrument 1985. Number 2043.
[2] Consumer Safety Research – Clothing
flammability accidents study.
Consumer
Safety Unit – Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London,
United Kingdom. March 1997.
[3] Published Document PD2777. Fabric flammability and burning accidents.
British
Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London, United Kingdom. 15 September 1994.
[4] Fire safety of clothing (English abstract).
T
Raynanen – VTT Research for Ministery of Trade and Industry – Finland, November
1998.
[5] Mandate to CEN in the field of standardisation
relative to the safety of consumers for a feasibility study on possible
standardisation of fire resistance of nightwear.
European
Commission DG XXIV Consumer policy and health protection – Belgium, 8 December
1997.
[6] EN 1103: 1996. Textiles – Burning behaviour – Fabrics for apparel – Detailed
procedure to determine the burning behaviour of fabrics for apparel.
European Committee for Standardisation,
Central Secretariat, rue de Stassart 36, B-1050 Brussels.
[7] Fire safety of nappy materials containing
cellulose fibre (English abstract).
Ryynanen T & Rintala H.
VTT Research for National Consumer
Administration – Finland, October 1998.
[8] Garments designed to reduce fire hazard.
Belshaw.
Fire Safety Journal. Australia, 26 March 1985.
[9] Expert Group to investigate cot death theories
: Toxic gas hypothesis, Department of Health.
Anon. Chem. Brit., 34 (No7), 8, 1998.
[10] Toxicity and ecotoxicity of flame
retardant used in the industry of upholstered furniture and related articles.
EC
Study Contract ETD/91/B8-5300/M1/44. European Commission, 22 April 1997.
[11] Risks and benefits in the use of flame
retardant in consumer products.
Stevens
GC & Mann AH. Consumer Safety Unit,
Department of Trade and Industry.
United Kingdom, 1999.