Mattress safety 

Beds are burning 

What's cooking at UL's main campus north of Chicago? Mattresses. Literally.

Since the new open flame ignition regulation for mattresses took effect July 1, 2007, UL has steadily been burning mattresses 24/7 - sometimes three shifts a day, seven days a week. The global safety organization estimates its burns thousands of mattresses in the each year to verify compliance to these requirements.

"Manufacturers seeking to be compliant with the existing national regulations come to UL to verify a mattresses' ability to resist flames," said John Drengenberg, UL's Consumer Affairs Director. "Consumers shopping for mattresses are able to buy new mattresses that meet the requirements of the new regulation."

Beginning July 1, 2007, all mattresses manufactured or imported and sold in the United States must be compliant to the new regulation for open flame sources, such as candles, matches and cigarette lighters. The previous regulation, enacted in 1973, which is still in effect, required that mattresses resist smoldering cigarettes.

UL's dedication to mattress safety doesn't stop with testing. If a manufacturer elects to participate in certification, UL takes compliance a step further by reviewing the manufacturer's design and construction, and continues to ensure that manufacturers adhere to mattress regulations by conducting at least four unannounced inspections a year. The independent organization has mattress testing sites in Northbrook, Ill., Toronto and Guangzhou, China.

"We get down to the stitches and we don't stop there," Drengenberg said. "Our engineers have evaluated the individual components, the mattress design and the assembly process for various manufacturers. If neccessary, we'llcontinue to monitor a manufacturer's production and its suppliers as long as the mattresses need verification or carry the UL Mark."

This can be especially important to consumers, considering that the new regulation is self-declaring, meaning that third-party verification is not required of manufacturers, Drengenberg said.

Formally known as 16 CFR Part 1633, the new regulation requires mattresses to meet a 30-minute test. Specifically, the burning mattress cannot give off energy in excess of 200 kilowatts during that time or a total of 15 megajoules in the first 10 minutes. That level of energy is equivalent to fires in four wastebaskets.

In a typical bedroom, at 1,000 kilowatts "flashover" occurs, the energy emitted so great that everything in the room ignites. Through its testing program, UL is finding that non-compliant mattresses can reach that energy level in as little as four minutes.

To verify a mattress' resistance to open flame, UL technicians use a specially designed duel gas burner, which applies a steady flame to the top of the mattress for 70 seconds and to one side of the mattress for 50 seconds. This simulates bedclothes catching fire and burning through to the mattress.

This federal regulation has its roots in California. Since 2005, mattresses sold in California have been required to comply with stringent safety standards. Testing criteria in the new regulation is so strict that two days of "moisture conditioning" are required to ensure that all mattresses are at the same dryness level before the mattresses are ignited.

"The mattress, weighing as much as 150 pounds or more, is often the largest source of fire fuel in the entire home," Drengenberg said. "With the success of the federal regulation and what UL has seen in our research, we believe the next step is to evaluate and improve the fire safety performance of other furniture in the home, such as sofas."

Related materials

• Graph: Anatomy of a mattress