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Fire
Statistics
Fires
are a major cause of death and injuries. It is estimated that
4,300 persons are killed in the United States each year and
27,000 are injured. For the European Union the estimates are
over 4,000 killed and 80,000 injuries per year. Many products
are made safer through the appropriate use of flame retardants
but still more could be done to improve fire safety further.
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The Role
of Fire Retardants
Flame Retardants are additives whose role
is to make materials harder to ignite, and if ignited, in many
cases to reduce the rate of heat release or the rate at which
flames spread. The difference they make is in preventing actual
fires. Flame Retardants also increase the valuable time needed
for escape if a fire is ignited. |
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Flammability
Standards
Different
geographical regions may have different flammability standards,
if any. These standards are based upon the function of the
polymer. For example, furniture in California is required
to meet a fire safety standard, while the rest of the States
do not require a fire safety standard for furniture.
The Consumer Protection Safety Council (CPSC) is expected
to propose a nationwide furniture fire safety standard by
the end of 2004. More...
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More About Fire Safety
We encourage you to visit the following
websites promoting fire safety.
www.firemarshals.org
www.acfse.org
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