Comparison of the propensity of cigarettes to ignite upholstered furniture fabrics and cotton ducks (500-fabric study)? a second opinion

Abstract

In the paper entitled ‘Comparison of the Propensity of Cigarettes to Ignite Upholstered Furniture Fabrics and Cotton Ducks (500-Fabric Study)’ (Fire Mater. 21, 123–141 (1997)) Marcelo M. Hirschler addresses the validity of a test method, proposed by NIST, for smoldering cigarette ignition propensity of upholstery fabrics. The thrust of the study is to establish similarities ‘between the ignition propensity of cigarettes assessed by (1) a set of 500-upholstery fabrics (chosen at random among typical upholstery fabrics) and (2) a test method proposed by NIST (NIST 851) and based on “cotton duck” fabrics’. The conclusion of Hirschler's study is that ‘the overall results obtained from the 500-upholstery fabric study correlate well with those of the “cotton duck” study.’ In addition, the author states that ‘the “cotton duck” can be considered, as a whole, to behave similarly to the majority (estimated at perhaps 80%) of the upholstery fabrics available at the time of the study, and the test is valid’. In an attempt to validate these statements, the ignition patterns generated by the five test cigarettes on each of the 500-upholstery fabrics were compared with the NIST “cotton duck” pattern. Only 6.6% were found to generate a pattern similar to the NIST pattern and 94% of this group were heavyweight (greater than 14 oz/sq yd.) fabrics. Assessment of the test results fails to substantiate Hirschler's statements. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.