Providing Safety in the Home

A wide range of products and materials are safe for consumer use, in large part because of the development of flame retardants. Flame retardants are chemicals added to materials, either during or after the manufacturing process, that reduce both the chances of the material igniting and, if it does, slow the rate of combustion and reduce the heat release. The use of flame retardants in the manufacture of electronic equipment, upholstered furniture and textiles has been shown to save lives.

In 1988, after many years of severe fires involving upholstered furniture (such as sofas), the UK passed legislation requiring such furniture meet a higher inflammability standard. The legislation, which requires both the fillings and covers of most upholstered furniture to be flame retarded, has proved highly effective, especially as older furniture is replaced by new, safer furniture.

Despite those facts, the UK continues to be one of the rare countries in Europe to require such high safety standards for upholstered furniture.

The U.S. introduced higher fire safety standards for the manufacturing of televisions. Since then, there has been a 73% decrease in fire-related incidences involving television. Such standards do not exist in Europe, and unfortunately fire-related deaths and injuries involving televisions have continued to climb. It is estimated that thanks to these standards,  US citizens experience 5 fires per million TV Sets per year, whereas European citizens experience 325 fires per million TV Sets per year (IEC TC108, Special Fire Research Group 108/176/2006).