ASTM international publishes a revised standard for fire safety of candles.

SAFEGUARDS | Hardgoods NO. 173/17

In Oct 2017, ASTM F2417 had been updated to 2017 version. This standard is intended to set out minimum safety requirements for candles and its ensembles for reducing fires, deaths, and injuries when burning a candle.

The major update to the standard is mainly editorial for better understanding of the requirements.

Most of the tests remain equivalent to those of the 2016 version of the standard except for the following changes:

  • ASTM F2417-17 clearly suggested the size of religious/ceremonial candles (generally 17 in. or more). Other candles for worship that are used at home are now regarded as 'extended use candles'
  • To cope with the burning of extended use candles, Candle Burning Performance Test for this type of candle is now specified to burn for the prescribed length of time, instead of 8 hours for gel-containing candles and 4 hours for other types of candles.
  • For the flammability test on plastic containers, the 2016 version required both total burn time not to exceed 300 seconds for 10 samples and individual burn time not to exceed 30 seconds. The 2017 version has an added requirement which states 'no single plastic container shall be completely consumed during testing'. This would fill the gap that existed in the 2016 version where some extremely flammable plastic containers totally burnt up in less than 30 seconds.

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SGS SA published this content on 21 November 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 November 2017 03:35:01 UTC.

Original documenthttp://www.sgs.com/en/news/2017/11/safeguards-17317-fire-safety-standard-for-candles

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