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Children's Coalition for Fire-Safe Mattresses
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Mission Statement The mission of the Children’s Coalition for Fire-Safe Mattresses is to raise public awareness of the toxic fire threat posed by conventional residential mattresses; urge adoption by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of an open flame standard for such mattresses; and encourage responsible mattress manufacturers to voluntarily provide a fire-safe alternative to consumers. The Children's Coalition is a grassroots organization of burn survivors and concerned parents. For many supporters, a mattress fire has in some manner impacted their life. Prior to the fires, they did not know that their mattresses could catch fire so easily, burn so fiercely, and maim or kill so quickly. They did not know the mattress contained the equivalent of what some call "solid gasoline" in the form of non-flame-retarded polyurethane foam. They were shocked to discover that a match or lighter in the hands of a child could turn an otherwise harmless home furnishing into a column of flame in mere minutes.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and mattress makers have known of solutions to the open flame hazard to mattresses for decades, but have taken no effective action. Disbelief turned to anger when they discovered that the British government banned such foam from their mattresses more than a decade ago. Finally, anger grew to rage when the families learned that this nation’s prisoners and other "high risk" occupants have slept on fire-safe mattresses for many years, while no safe alternative was offered to the ordinary consumer. If measured by the annual number of deaths and injuries, a home with children in residence is the occupancy with the highest risk. The mattress makers maintain that consumers cannot afford the fire-safe alternative. However, post-ban mattress prices in the U.K. have rose less that 10% the year after the ban went into effect in 1988. The mattress makers in the U.S. blame the parents for inattentiveness, the landlords for the lack of a smoke detector, the sheet and pillow makers for their products’ flammability, and lighter makers for their product’s ease of operation. The fact of the matter is that the fuel is in the foam, which is in the mattress, which they sell without an effective warning of its lethal nature. Since 1971, the CPSC has been armed with analysis from almost every quarter, and has failed to mandate an open flame standard. A single sheet of newspaper could pass their original smoldering standard. While the CPSC waits for the results of yet another study performed by the mattress industry, other nations have enacted effective open flame standards that are saving the lives of their children. One need only look to CPSC regulations on Pokeman balls, child-proof caps, child-resistant lighters, bunk beds, toys, and home appliances to determine how quickly the agency can intervene to ban unsafe products and save lives. No interested party debates the severity of the hazard. While the industry stalls, and the CPSC considers more reports, our children are burning and dying. The survivors endure excruciating burn treatment and reconstruction, which will cost millions of dollars over their life. After losing their skin and their limbs, the survivors are often relegated to a life in seclusion. The Children’s Coalition demands that an effective open flame standard be mandated immediately. The CPSC can chose from a host of effective European and domestic standards as a starting point. The Children’s Coalition demands that the CPSC follow the European example and ban non-flame retarded polyurethane foam from use in residential mattresses. Fire-safe technology exists, and has been proven to be both affordable and appealing to consumers. Our families and our children deserve immediate action from our Government. Whitney A. Davis, Director
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