Fire safe cigarette

Fire safe cigarettes, abbreviated 'FSC', also known as lower ignition propensity (LIP), reduced fire risk (RFR), self-extinguishing, fire-safe or reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes, are cigarettes that are designed to extinguish more quickly than standard cigarettes if ignored, with the intention of preventing accidental fires. In the United States, 'FSC' above the barcode signifies that the cigarettes sold are fire standards compliant (FSC). Fire safe cigarettes, abbreviated 'FSC', also known as lower ignition propensity (LIP), reduced fire risk (RFR), self-extinguishing, fire-safe or reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes, are cigarettes that are designed to extinguish more quickly than standard cigarettes if ignored, with the intention of preventing accidental fires. In the United States, 'FSC' above the barcode signifies that the cigarettes sold are fire standards compliant (FSC). Fire safe cigarettes are produced by adding two to three thin bands of less-porous cigarette paper along the length of the cigarette, creating series of harder-to-burn “speed bumps.” As the cigarette burns down, it will tend to be extinguished at each of these points unless the user is periodically intensifying the flame by inhaling. Contrary to myth, FSC cigarettes use no more ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) adhesive than conventional cigarettes, and its use as an adhesive predates the introduction of FSC technology. In 1929, a cigarette-ignited fire in Lowell, Massachusetts, caught the attention of U.S. Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers (D-MA); she called for the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) to develop the first less fire-prone cigarette, which NBS introduced in 1932. The Boston Herald American covered the story on 31 March 1932, noting that after three years of research the NBS had developed a “self-snubbing” cigarette and had suggested that cigarette manufacturers “take up the idea.” None did. In 1973, the United States Congress established the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to protect the public from hazardous products. Congress excluded tobacco products from its jurisdiction while assigning it responsibility for flammable fabrics. The CPSC regulated the flammability of mattresses and worked with furniture manufacturers to establish voluntary flammability standards for upholstered furniture, although more recently those standards have come to be considered mandatory. In 1978 Andrew McGuire (burn survivor, activist and winner of a 1985 MacArthur Fellowship for his work on the flammability of children's sleepwear) started a grassroots campaign to prevent house fire deaths by changing the cigarette. McGuire secured funding for an investigation into cigarettes and fires which became Cigarettes and Sofas: How the Tobacco Lobby Keeps the Home Fires Burning. Massachusetts congressman Joe Moakley introduced federal FSC legislation in the autumn of 1979 after a cigarette fire in his district killed a family of seven; California senator Alan Cranston authored a matching Senate bill. To forestall legislation mandating the inclusion of fire-safety features in cigarettes, the US Tobacco Institute financed a fire prevention education program in parallel with the campaign Fighting Fire with Firemen. In 1984, the Cigarette Safety Act funded a three-year study National Bureau of Standards (later NIST) study on how cigarettes and furnishings ignited and remained lit. “This understanding of the physics of ignition enabled the NBS team to develop two test methods for the ignition strength of cigarettes,under the auspices of the CPSC. This reported to US Congress in 1987 that it was technically feasible and maybe commercially feasible to make a cigarette that was less likely to start fires. Legislative activity continued in the states while the federal government, cigarette companies, and advocates discussed next steps. McGuire and colleagues continued to inform advocates about cigarette fires and prevention strategies, legislation and liability. A compromise led to the US Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1990, which required additional NIST research on the interaction of burning cigarettes with soft furnishings, such as upholstered furniture and beds. The resulting study, while contentious, laid the groundwork for a flammability test method for cigarettes. Federal efforts to implement a standard stalled, as the Reagan and Bush administrations preferred free markets to regulation. The grassroots campaign focused on state efforts. McGuire continued to publish progress reports. Based on the NIST research, ASTM International's Committee E05 on Fire Standards developed E 2187, a 'Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes,' which evaluates cigarette’s capacity to set fire to bedding and upholstered furniture in 2002. In 2000, New York passed the first state law requiring the introduction of cigarettes that have a lower likelihood of starting a fire, with flammability evaluated by E 2187. By spring 2006, four more states had passed laws modeled on New York's: Vermont, New Hampshire, California, and Illinois. McGuire published a campaign update. The National Fire Protection Association decided to fund the Fire Safe Cigarette Coalition to accelerate this grassroots movement.