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Mission Statement
Cigarette-started fires cause death, disfigurement and distress which could be easily prevented by simple design changes. The RIP Coalition want the Government to reduce this avoidable suffering through the introduction of sensible product regulation.
We agree on the following statements:
- Discarded cigarettes are the largest cause of death from domestic fires in the UK.
- Efforts to reduce cigarette initiated fires have focused on making flammable products safer rather than controlling the source of ignition. The Furniture and Furnishings Fire Safety Regulations came into force in the UK in 1988. Despite this, the latest Government statistics still list fires started by smokers? materials as the most dangerous type of household fires.
- In 2003 alone, there were over 4,000 smoking-related fires in the UK, as a result of which 123 people died, and over 1,400 were injured. A Fire Research report for the UK Government estimated that had cigarettes in the UK conformed to the highest standards on sale in New York, the number of smoking-related fires that year would have been reduced by nearly two thirds, leading to 78 fewer deaths, 886 fewer injuries and 2,544 fewer fires.
- Victims are more likely to be from low income households and include not only smokers, particularly the elderly, but children and fire-fighters too.
- Due to the design of cigarettes sold in the UK, a cigarette will continue to burn even when it is not being smoked. Cigarette burn rates are controlled by the permeability and amount of burn control additives in the cigarette paper. Burn additives such as citrate or acetate are applied to cigarette paper and influence the free burn rate increasing the risk of fire.
- Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) or self extinguishing cigarettes have already been manufactured elsewhere and could be easily introduced into the UK.
- The tobacco companies have had the technology to produce self extinguishing or reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes for at least 15 years, yet they choose not to produce these for the UK market.
- There is an established standard for reduced ignition propensity cigarettes set by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM International) E2187-02b , which is in place in a number of US States and in Canada. This standard requires that cigarettes, when placed on a thickness of 10 layers of filter paper, burn down completely in only 25% of cases. This standard can reduce the risk of fires by up to two thirds. The standards were first introduced in New York in June 2004, and the statistics already show a significant fall in the number of fires and fire deaths.
- Reduced Ignition Propensity cigarettes are not 'fire safe' cigarettes. They are only 'fire safer'. In order to manufacture RIP cigarettes, ultra-thin concentric bands or 'speed bumps' are introduced in the cigarette paper in order to restrict oxygen access to the burning end of the cigarette.
- Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) cigarettes are simple and relatively cheap to manufacture, are no more toxic than cigarettes currently on sale, and can save lives, prevent injury and loss of homes and possessions.
- The Government should make all cigarettes manufactured, sold and consumed in the UK, reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes.
- The people of the UK have the right to be protected from the needless suffering arising from fires caused by smouldering cigarettes.
- The EC is looking at setting standards for RIP cigarettes under the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). Reduced ignition propensity cigarettes are a model of better, more effective, regulation of the tobacco industry.
- The UK Government should support the setting of the same standards as in New York and Canada, either through the EU or, if this proves not to be possible, through UK legislation.
- We will work both within the UK and in partnership with the European campaign for RIP cigarettes, to achieve this aim.
References
- Careless smoking: know the facts. Department for Communities and Local Government
- http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/894/FireStatisticsUnitedKingdom2003PDF1724Kb_id1124894.pdf
- http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1163267
- Source: Fire Deaths in London 1996-2000 London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
- Tobacco Encyclopedia, The Standard Reference Work for the Tobacco Industry. Tobacco Journal International. Voges 2000
- M Gunja, G Ferris Wayne, A Landman, G Connolly and A McGuire. The case for fire safe cigarettes made through Industry documents. 2002 http://firesafecigarettes.org//assets/files//casethroughindustry.pdf
- http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/DATABASE.CART/HISTORICAL/E2187-02B.htm?L+mystore+tyfz5125
- http://www.firesafecigarettes.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=9&URL=Home - The
- http://hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/pubs/tobac-tabac/rias-reir/index_e.html
- http://www.fasny.com/archives/2005/09/1st_year_of_fire_safe_cigarette_law_yields_fewer_deaths.aspx
- Economic Evaluation of Health Canada's Regulatory Proposal for Reducing Fire Risks from Cigarettes http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/pubs/tobac-tabac/evaluation-risks-risques/index_e.html
- Gann RG, Steckler KD, Ruitberg S, et al. Relative Ignition Propensity of Test Market Cigarettes: U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology; 2001. Report No.: Technical Note 1436. Available at: http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/pdf/final_report.pdf There is no evidence of any increased toxicity but as in the Canadian legislation we would require that three toxicity tests a year be carried out by manufacturers and measures put in place to monitor any potential health risks.
- Buck D, Godfrey C. Helping smokers give up: guidance for purchasers on cost-effectiveness. Health Education Authority: London, 1994. Estimated the costs of fires at £150 million for England and Wales in 1991. This figure excludes any value on the loss of life from such fires. Costs will have risen significantly since then.
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