http://www.firesafetyinfo.org/PreventingFires/ElectronicEquipment.htm Most homes in developed countries have one or more television sets.
Flame retardants, particularly brominated flame retardants, play a prominent role in enhancing the fire safety of these TVs. Around the world, the printed circuit boards used in TVs are manufactured with a unique brominated flame retardant.
Televisions in the USA are generally quite fire-resistant
Thanks to fire retardants, we can enjoy the benefits of modern electronics with much less risk. In the United States, 25 years ago, television set manufacturers realized that fires were becoming an increasingly serious problem. The solution: establish fire safety standards and use fire retardants in plastic cabinets and accessories. This arises from the 1973 ruling of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) which required that all television fires be contained within the cabinet. In most cases the improvements in fire safety were achieved through the use of brominated flame retardants.
As a result of this action CPSC estimates that from 1983 to 1991 the number of U.S. residential fires due to televisions FELL by 73%.
The plastic housing of American TVs usually contains a brominated flame retardant, as US manufacturers voluntarily comply with a strict fire safety standard known as "V-0" which was defined by Underwriters Laboratories. The V-0 standard requires that the plastic used in the TV cabinet:
Be self-extinguishing when the ignition source is removed
Not form burning drops
And have an after-flame lasting less than 5 seconds.
Click here to see an American TV subjected to a fuel pellet test; here to see a candle test and here liquid alcohol.
Televisions in Europe and elsewhere are less fire-resistant
You should know that TV sets made according to the fire safety standards followed in Europe typically do NOT provide the same level of fire safety as their U.S. counterparts. Unfortunately, fire standards for televisions in Europe and in some developing countries are much less stringent than the U.S. V-0 standard. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 65 standard is used as a global guide for designing safe televisions. Materials which do not meet the V-0 flammability standard (see criteria above) can still qualify under the IEC 65 standard. The result is that many European television-manufacturers use thick-walled, non-flame-retarded resins to house their products.
Recently performed fire tests (see below) show that TV sets manufactured in the last 2 years and meeting European fire safety standards burn easily, producing a serious fire and great amounts of smoke. Click here to see photos. Comparison tests show that older European sets were much more resistant to ignition than those being produced today. Click here to see photos. Recent stories in the European press indicate TV set fires may be on the increase. For example, the Dutch press reports TV sets are the second most important cause of fire in private dwellings. In 1993, one European-based TV manufacturer recalled 300,000 TV sets sold in the Netherlands because they represented a potential fire hazard. At the time, the fire brigade of The Hague said "We are confronted with TVs that catch fire - almost all of them as as result of being left on in the standby function". They had 10 such cases per year. (NRC Handelsblad, Feb, 9, 1993).
Click here to read the viewpoints of Ren Hagen, of the Fire Brigade of Amsterdam, and Cees Meijer, of the Dutch Consumer Safety Foundation, on TV fires in the Netherlands.
Until the early 1990s, TV set fires in Europe were decreasing. But in view of the results of the tests of fire performance of today's TV sets there is a fear that the trend will reverse in the future, and fires increase.
How safe is your TV? Comparative fire testing gives the answer!
In 1997, the European Brominated Flame Retardants Industry Panel (EBFRIP) and the European Flame Retardants Association (EFRA) commissioned fire testing of various TVs and personal computer (PC) monitors. All the large-scale fire testing was carried out at the State Materials Research and Testing Establishment in Leipzig, Germany. The main objective was to study the ignition and post-ignition behaviour of TV-sets and PC-monitors. To this aim, a series of TVs and PCs representative of what is available on the market were purchased and tested.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study are:
* 5 of the 6 new TVs bought in Germany and tested may be ignited by the equivalent of a match or low-energy electrical fault, and this can lead to flash-over and complete room destruction within 7:30 minutes. The one new German TV set that resisted this ignition source, as well as higher levels of ignition sources, was manufactured with brominated flame retardants.
* The new TV sets purchased in the USA were resistant to ignition. Even when exposed to alcohol poured directly on the TV and then ignited -- which was the highest level ignition source tested -- this did not lead to any sustained burning; i.e. these fires self-extinguished and did not cause any other objects in the room to catch fire. Needless to say, they contained a sufficient level of flame retardants.
* The new Japanese TV tested was also very fire resistant. It also contained flame retardants.
* Older (i.e. manufactured before 1995) European TVs are more fire resistant than the ones for sale in Germany today.
* The new PCs purchased in Germany were quite resistant to ignition as well: only when the ignited alcohol-soaked cloth was placed at the bottom of the PC monitor, or the monitor was doused with alcohol and then ignited, did this lead to sustained burning.
