Presenter: Shivani Mehta

Legislation has passed in all 50 states of the United States allowing only cigarettes with reduced ignition propensity (RIP), also known as “fire safe cigarettes,” to be sold to consumers. Currently, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) addresses the cigarette ignition risk for mattresses and mattress pads and has proposed a standard for the flammability of upholstered furniture that also addresses cigarette ignition risk. CPSC staff is evaluating the change in cigarette ignition hazard that may result from the use of fire safe cigarettes. Testing was conducted to assess the difference in the smoldering hazard of conventional (non-RIP) and RIP cigarettes on mattresses and mattress pads. This session describes the methodology, results, and analysis of the CPSC staff’s work.