According to a survey conducted in 2005 by the National Fire Protection Association, it is estimated that 3,675 die from fire in the United States, of that total, 96% die in home or highway vehicle fires – the equivalent of one person every 143 minutes. As always, home fires accounted for the most fire deaths - 82% died in home fires in 2005.

The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) supports a combination of approaches to reduce these tragic incidents, including:

  • addressing technically sound national standards;
  • supporting the proper labeling of products; and
  • fire safety education.

Polyurethane materials are organic and -- like other organic materials such as wood, paper, cotton, wool, and many other materials -- can ignite and burn if exposed to a sufficient heat source. Organic foam insulation, regardless of whether the foam contains fire retardants, should be considered combustible and handled accordingly. Precautions should be taken to minimize any potential for fire through accidental ignition in handling, storage and use. How polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (polyiso) foams are used ultimately helps determine their fire safety. In many cases, such as in building and construction, the type of occupancy and type of construction also may require the addition of sprinkler protection and/or smoke detectors. When used in furniture and bedding, flexible polyurethane foams (FPFs) are matched with fabric coverings and liners that may influence the combustibility of the finished article. Of particular concern is how quickly a fire involving FPF may grow and the intensity of the resulting fire.

So, how are polyurethane materials regulated? In the building and construction industry, polyurethane and polyiso foams are regulated through fire codes, the model building codes and state and local governments. Model and local building codes are used throughout the United States to provide guidance and requirements for the safe use of materials and systems used in buildings. They are considered “living documents” that are updated and changed on a regular basis. Building codes help safeguard life and protect the public welfare by regulating design, construction practices, construction material quality (including fire performance), location, occupancy, and maintenance of buildings and structures. When regulating materials, many of the model building codes refer to consensus standards for products or tests developed by standard-setting organizations such as ASTM International and the National Fire Protection Association. Some building codes and insurance rating organizations also rely on test information from testing laboratories such as Factory Mutual Global and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

As a service to the polyurethanes industry, the CPI offers a listing of fire testing laboratoriesand polyurethane-related codes and standards.

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Adopting National Furnishings Flammability Standards
CPI is particularly concerned about deaths and injuries from fires involving residential furniture and mattresses that contain flexible polyurethane foam (FPF).

CPI favors the adoption of a national standard by a government authority that effectively promotes fire safety and saving lives. An effective standard should be technically sound and appropriate for product performance. The national standard should address the following concepts regarding testing and product labeling:

  • Test selection and design should address the actual hazard. The final test should be a performance-based test representative of upholstered furniture and/or mattress constructions in residential use.
  • All residential upholstered furniture must meet the same or equivalent test requirements regardless of the materials used in construction.
  • All residential mattresses must meet the same test requirements regardless of the materials used in construction.
  • The test criteria and procedures should be practical.
  • Appropriate labeling provisions should be included.

To learn more about furnishings flammability and FPF, visit the Polyurethane Foam Association’s website.

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Improving Fire Safety
To address fire safety concerns, including those associated with upholstered furniture, mattresses and building and construction in particular, CPI supports education on:

  • fire safety;
  • the use of fire and smoke detectors and fire suppressant systems; and
  • proper handling of potential ignition sources.

CPI also is a founding member and major sponsor of the Fire Safety Alliance (FSA), which educates the public about fire prevention to help reduce the incidences of residential fire-related injuries and deaths. To facilitate this effort, the FSA has begun an ongoing data collection effort to learn from the nation’s current fire prevention educational programs.

Model and local building codes used in the United States provide guidance and requirements for the safe use of materials and systems used in buildings. Since the 1970s, plastic thermal insulation, including polyurethane, has become an important element in the building envelope, as well as in other areas of a building including roofing membranes, door insulation, decorative elements, attic crawl spaces and more, and is specifically regulated by current building codes.

“Foam plastic insulations are useful components if installed and maintained properly. Currently a lack of fire safety awareness may exist among a new generation of architects, engineers, and general contractors working with foam plastic insulation products. This situation needs to be addressed, and those involved should include all involved from project inception through project construction and occupancy.”

Joseph Zicherman, Ph.D.
Fire Cause Analysis Inc.
Journal of Architectural Engineering, 2003

While information on tests mandated by the building codes to measure the fire performance of foam plastic insulation used in buildings is provided by building codes, keep in mind that there are other considerations that also are addressed by building codes such as physical properties of products. While model building codes encompass a wide variety of issues, they generally do not contain specific details, such as physical properties or performance testing, for each building material and system. Rather, model codes typically direct designers and builders to standards developed by standards setting organizations, for the information they need such as the International Code Council, International Residential Code and others. Compliance with these reference standards is a means of code enforcement by building departments.

CPI supports and actively participates in the model building code process. We work closely with downstream product groups and provide educational seminars to building code officials, fire code officials, designers, product manufacturers, raw material suppliers and others at ICC Cracker Barrel Sessions, the CPI Professional Development Program and other venues. We work with legislators to educate them on the safe use and handling of polyurethane products and we reach out to homebuilder communities and architects to promote the proper use, handling and benefits of polyurethane products. 

Polyurethanes are essential to so many products and have been long used in the upholstered furniture and building and construction market sectors. Whether using fireproofing materials to reduce the flame spread in bedding and mattresses, or thermal insulation to reduce the flow of heat through the thickness of a material, polyurethanes will continue to serve these industries well into the future and CPI members will support fire safety regulations to help reduce the incidences of fire-related injuries and deaths.

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Promoting Fire Safety Education
CPI actively promotes the safe use and handling of polyurethane materials and systems in building and construction applications by working closely with downstream product groups such as the spray polyurethane foam industry, metal construction panel manufacturers, polyiso boardstock manufacturers and others to provide sound science and offer educational seminars on the safe use of polyurethanes as it relates to fire safety education. We work with building code officials, fire code officials, designers, product manufacturers, raw material suppliers and others at the International Code Council Cracker Barrel Sessions, CPI Professional Development Program and other venues to educate on the safe use and handling of polyurethanes as it pertains to the building and construction market.

CPI works with legislators and state governments to educate them on the safe use and proper handling of polyurethane products.

In 2002, CPI began a three-year commitment to fund and support the Risk Watch program in the Nash-Rocky Mount North Carolina School District. Risk Watch is an injury-prevention program for K-8 grades developed by the National Fire Protection Association, whose fire-and-burns prevention unit far exceeded similar programs we reviewed. This well-defined curriculum can be easily integrated into other learning disciplines and classroom activities. Although CPI concluded their initial support of the Risk Watch program in 2004, CPI will continue to support fire safety education. The final evaluation of the Risk Watch Injury Program is now available.

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Polyurethane Products in Fires and the Toxicity of Smoke
CPI is concerned about deaths and injuries from fires involving residential furniture and mattresses and supports a combination of approaches to reduce the incidence of fire deaths and injuries associated with residential furniture and mattresses. View CPI's Position Statement on Residential Upholstered Furniture and Mattress Fire Performance.

Polyurethane is a material that can be found in many of the products that we use in our daily lives. Polyurethane products have diverse and widespread applications, including many consumer items, such as furniture, mattresses, bedding, carpet padding and appliances.

As with many common household goods, items containing polyurethane may become involved in a fire. All combustible materials produce toxic smoke when burned. The toxicity of smoke can be relevant as it is one of many factors affecting the ability of people to escape from a fire.

There are misconceptions that smoke from a fire that involves polyurethane products poses a significantly greater health risk than from other synthetic or natural materials because hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is present in the smoke. HCN is produced whenever nitrogen containing materials are burned, including polyurethanes and other common materials such as sheep’s wool. However, in terms of hazard, carbon monoxide (CO) is by far the most abundant toxicant in fires under almost all combustion conditions. (Nelson, 2003)

A recent paper (Cancio, 2005) reports that several autopsy studies indicate carbon monoxide and lethal levels of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) were found in the majority of non-survivors and CO was therefore the toxic gas of greatest importance in the fire related fatalities.

For more details on this topic and the specifics of this study, download, Polyurethane Products in Fires: Acute Toxicity of Smoke and Fire Gases.

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spotlight

The polyurethane industry, working together through the American Chemistry Council's (ACC) Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) and the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), has launched an enhanced product stewardship program to support further understanding of the benefits of spray polyurethane foam and its continued safe use and handling. A part of this outreach, a new Spray Polyurethane Foam Health and Safety website, www.spraypolyurethane.com, has been launched by CPI and SPFA that contains new materials, literature and posters to increase understanding of spray polyurethane foam (SPF) product stewardship information.

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