Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes in Texas
News
According to a recent report released by the National Fire Protection Association, 610 civilian deaths in the United States were attributed to smoking material fires in 2010, a number at or near the all-time-low and well down from the 1980 levels. During 2010 there were an estimated 90,800 smoking material fires, resulting in $663 million in direct property damage.
Several factors, including a decline in smoking and stricter fire resistant standards on mattresses and upholstered furniture have been credited with the decrease in smoking material fire deaths over the last 30 years. The most recent drops in fatalities and injuries, though, owe much to the “fire-safe” cigarette legislation.
In 2003, states began requiring that all cigarettes sold must be “fire-safe”; that is, have sharply reduced ignition strength (ability to start fires). By 2010, fire-safe cigarette legislation was in effect in 47 states. From 2003 to 2010, the number of civilian deaths in smoking-material fires fell by an average of 21 percent.
2012 is the first year that such laws are effective in all 50 states, and all inventories of pre-standard cigarettes should now be sold out. A projection linking the percentage decline in fire deaths to the percentage of smokers covered suggests that when smoking material fire death numbers are analyzed for the year 2012, the reduction in civilian deaths will reach roughly 30 percent.
Other key findings in this report show:
Older adults are at the highest risk of death or injury from home smoking-material fires, even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.
One fatal victim in four (24 percent) of home smoking-material fires was not the smoker whose cigarette started the fire.
Sleeping is the primary human factor contributing to ignition cited for one-third (32 percent) of home smoking-material fire deaths.
Read more and get the report here.
Background
Cigarettes have long been known to be one of the leading causes of fire deaths in the United States. Each year between 700 and 900 lives are lost to fires whose ignition source was cigarettes. In 1984 and 1990 the United States Congress tasked the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) to explore whether cigarettes with a reduced ignition propensity were technically and commercially viable. Technical advisory groups were formed consisting of representatives from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Fire Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Cancer Institute, representatives of the tobacco and furniture industries, fire safety professionals and public health and safety advocates. The first study determined that cigarettes with a reduced ignition propensity were viable. The second study developed testing methods that would accurately portray what happens when a cigarette was dropped on furnishings. NIST was again involved in testing in 2000 when they tested a cigarette that was designed with a reduced risk of igniting a fire if it was dropped or discarded. The testing found that the cigarette did exhibit a reduced ignition propensity. In 2004 New York became the first state to mandate that manufacturers provide only fire standard compliant cigarettes be sold in that state.
Cigarettes ignited at least 6799 fires and caused more than $37 million in property losses in Texas between 2003 and 2006; 37 civilians lost their lives, 163 civilians and 36 firefighters were injured due to fires that could be directly attributed to cigarettes. In response to this problem, HB 2935 was passed and signed into law on June 15, 2007. The law, now Chapter 796 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, required that by January 1, 2010, all cigarettes sold in the state of Texas must be certified fire standard compliant (FSC). The State Fire Marshal’s Office, Texas Department of Insurance, was placed in charge of all rulemaking, certifications, and investigations relating to fire standard compliant cigarettes.
On December 11, 2008, the Texas Department of Insurance adopted rules to implement the Fire Standard Compliant Cigarette Program. The State Fire Marshal’s Office began officially accepting manufacturer’s certifications on that date.
How Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Work
Fire standard compliant cigarettes (FSCC) are designed to reduce the amount of time that a cigarette continues to burn when it is not actively being smoked. By reducing the amount of time the cigarette continues to burn it is less likely to ignite furniture or bedding material. The predominant method that cigarette companies use to produce fire standard compliant cigarettes is by wrapping the cigarettes with two or three thin bands of paper that is less porous than the outer paper tube. These bands act as “speed bumps” slowing down the burning of a cigarette, causing it to self-extinguish.
How the Fire Standard Compliant Cigarette (FSCC) Law Affects Retailers, Wholesalers, Manufacturers and Consumers
Retailers
The FSCC law went into effect on January 1, 2009. All cigarettes sold in Texas must be certified fire standard compliant in accordance with Chapter 796 of the Health and Safety Code. FSCCs have a special marking on the package to indicate compliance with the cigarette fire safety standards. The marking will normally be the letters “FSC” near the UPC.
Retailers must allow representatives of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Texas Comptroller’s Office to inspect the records and stocks of cigarettes sold in their establishment. If a retailer offers noncompliant cigarettes for sale it is a violation and they could be fined $100.00 per pack of cigarettes offered for sale. The maximum fine for a retailer is $25,000.00 per 30 day period that the cigarettes were offered for sale.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health Report, cigarette sales have not shown a decline after the implementation of the fire-standard compliant cigarette.
Wholesalers/Distributors
All cigarettes sold in Texas must be certified fire standard compliant in accordance with Chapter 796 of the Health and Safety Code. Distributors and wholesalers are responsible for ensuring that all cigarettes they receive and then offer for sale are fire standards compliant.
Wholesalers and distributors must allow representatives of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Comptroller’s Office to inspect the records and stocks of cigarettes within their establishment. A retailer or distributor may be fined up to $100.00 per pack of cigarettes offered for sale with a maximum of $100,000.00 per 30 day period that they offered noncompliant cigarettes for sale.
Manufacturers
Any product meeting the definition of a cigarette in Chapter 796 of the Health and Safety Code must be certified by the manufacturer to the State Fire Marshal’s Office to be sold in Texas. This includes the South Asian cigarette known as the beedi (also spelled bidi or biri). Manufacturers must submit form SF251, Application for Fire Standard Compliant Cigarette Marking Approval, to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. A sample of the proposed marking must accompany the form. After the proposed marking is approved, the manufacturer must provide wholesalers and distributors a copy of the sample marking.
Each variety of cigarette must be tested at a laboratory meeting ISO/IEP 17025 accreditation. After the cigarettes have been tested the manufacturer may certify the cigarette as fire standard compliant for sale in Texas. The certification must be submitted on form SF250. The certification fee of $250.00 per variety of cigarette must accompany the form. Manufacturers must re-certify each variety of cigarette every three years. Certifications are valid for three years from the date the certification was received by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The forms may be downloaded in PDF format here. If you would prefer the forms in Word format, please contact the FSCC Program Coordinator by email.
Manufacturers must retain copies of the reports of all tests conducted on all cigarettes offered for sale for the previous three years and provide copies of the documentation upon written request from the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
If a manufacturer is found to have sold a noncompliant cigarette to a distributor for sale in Texas the manufacturer could be fined up to $100.00 per pack of cigarettes with a maximum fine of $100,000.00 per 30 day period that cigarettes were sold.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office appreciates the cigarette manufacturers' continued support and cooperation.
Consumers
The cost of cigarettes is not anticipated to increase due to fire standard compliant cigarette technology. The Harvard School of Public Health study, conducted after New York began requiring fire standard compliant cigarettes, comparing prices in upstate New York State to prices in Massachusetts found that prices remained comparable.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health study, there is no evidence that the small increases in five of 14 toxic compounds noted in FSCCs “affect the already highly toxic nature of cigarette smoke.”
The establishment of FSCCs in Texas is not an anti-smoking campaign. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is primarily concerned with fire safety and preventing deaths, injury and property loss due to cigarette ignited fires.
All requirements concerning the establishment, implementation and enforcement of the Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Law are found in the text of HB 2935, as signed into law by Governor Rick Perry: Full Text of the Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Law.
Rules implementing the Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Law have been added to the Texas Administrative Code: Texas Administrative Code Rules for the Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Law.
Complaints
Only cigarettes that have been certified to the State Fire Marshal’s Office may be sold in Texas. If you observe a retailer, wholesaler, distributor or manufacturer offering non-FSC cigarettes or cigarettes that have not been certified, you may file a complaint by filling out and sending in an SF252 complaint form. The form is available in RTF format, which may be used with most word processors. It is also available in PDF format which may be printed and filled out by hand. The completed form may be mailed, faxed or emailed to the address, fax number or email address listed on the form.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act banned certain flavorings in cigarettes. Cigarettes containing those flavorings may appear in the list of cigarettes certified for sale in Texas. The federal law takes precedence and noting that those cigarettes appear on the list does not relieve a person from the responsibility of obeying the federal law.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act required that manufacturers stop using certain designators such as light, ultra light and similar descriptors. According to Texas law the change in descriptor creates a new cigarette and the manufacturer must certify the new cigarette. Texas will allow the manufacturer to use the existing lab test for the cigarette provided the manufacturer certifies that no further changes were made to the cigarette. The manufacturer must submit a new FS250 and fees to certify the new brand styles.
Safe Smoking Practices
Whether you smoke a cigarette, pipe or cigar, you are smoking burning tobacco. In the right circumstances an improperly discarded tobacco product can start a fire. Although fire standard compliant cigarettes may reduce the likelihood that a cigarette will ignite a fire, safe smoking practices must still be used. The best alternative is to smoke outside and extinguish cigarettes in water or sand. Ashtrays should be deep and sturdy and placed on something that is hard to ignite, such as a table. Ashtrays should never be put on sofas, chairs or beds. Soak cigarette butts and ashes in water before throwing them away. Hot cigarettes or ashes should never be tossed into a trashcan.
Never smoke in a house where oxygen is in use. You should never smoke near an oxygen source, even if it is turned off. Oxygen can be explosive and causes a fire to burn hotter and faster.
Use the personal ashtrays or the ashtray in your car to extinguish your cigarettes. A cigarette thrown from a car window can cause wild land fires that endanger people, homes and animals.
Resources
- List of Cigarettes Certified by Manufacturers for Sale in Texas in PDF format
- United States Fire Administration Relaunches Smoking and Home Fires Campaign
- NIST Relative Ignition Propensity of Test Market Cigarettes study
- Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes
- Fire-Safer Cigarettes Study: The Effect Of The New York State Cigarette Fire Safety Standard On Ignition Propensity, Smoke Toxicity, And The Consumer Market
- Nova Search for a Safer Cigarette
For more information contact:
Last updated: 05/11/2012
