Flammability performance standards

Designing FR textiles for required level of performance for specific end uses requires an understanding of the end-use conditions and specific flammability performance standards. Textiles in different applications are used either as a single component (e.g., apparel, curtains, bedsheets, etc.) or a component of the composite structure (e.g., furniture). In the latter, components other than textile material and their lay-up will also influence the burning behavior of the whole structure. This section discusses different fiber and fabric types used for different applications, associated fire hazards, and most relevant flammability performance standards. In Section 24.2, testing standards were discussed, which are used for testing materials to comply with performance standards discussed briefly in this section and in detail elsewhere.11... 

Flammability. The fire hazard associated with plastics has always been difficult to assess and numerous tests have been devised which attempt to grade materials as regards flammability by standard small scale methods under controlled but necessarily artificial conditions. Descriptions of plastics as selfextinguishing, slow burning, fire retardant etc. have been employed to describe their behaviour under such standard test conditions, but could never be regarded as predictions of the performance of the material in real fire situations, the nature and scale of which can vary so much. 

In 1974, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a consent order that resulted in the withdrawal of ASTM D 1692. The order was motivated by the fact that some ASTM flammability test standards used terms such as nonburning and self-extinguishing to label materials that perform well in the test. The Commission determined that these terms give the public a false sense of confidence in the actual fire performance of these materials. ASTM subsequently drafted a policy to... 

BS 5722 1984 British Standard specification for flammability performance of fabrics and fabric assemblies used in sleepwear and dressing gowns. 

The convective updraft from severe fires, frequently involving flammable and combustible liquids may prevent water droplets from standard V2-in (1.3-cm) orifice sprinklers from reaching the seat of the fire and product may continue burning until it has been consumed or manually extinguished. Therefore, the variety of new high performance, large orifice, large droplet, or early suppression fast response (ESFR) sprinkler systems should be considered. 

SwRI 93-01, Testing Requirements for Protected Aboveground Flammable Liquid/Fuel Storage Tanks, includes tests to evaluate the performance of ASTs under fire, hose stream, ballistics, heavy vehicular impact, and different environments. This standard requires pool-fire resistance similar to that of UL 2085. 

The CPSC staff performed quantitative risk assessments on various flame-retardants for both upholstered residential furniture fabrics and foam.89 CPSC addresses chemical hazards under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), which is risk based. For fabrics, five flame-retardants were evaluated, that include antimony trioxide, deca-BDE, HBCD, phosphonic acid, (3- [hydroxymethyl]amino)-3-oxopropyl)-, dimethyl ester (PA), and tetrakis (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC). These flame-retardants were selected for study because they are used to comply with the U.K. upholstered furniture flammability standard (except THPC) and fabric samples were available for testing. The staff concluded in 2006 that deca-BDE, HBCD, and PA would not present a hazard to consumers and that additional data would be needed to assess antimony trioxide and THPC. 

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