CPSC Issues Final Rule On Child-Resistant Lighters

Today, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) unanimously voted (3 to 0) to set a mandatory safety standard requiring most cigarette lighters manufactured in the United States or imported to be child-resistant. CPSC Chairman Jacqueline Jones-Smith says, ""This standard has the potential to save more lives than any standard issued by the Commission in its 20-year history.""

Annually, children under five years old playing with lighters cause more than 5,000 residential fires, resulting in approximately 150 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. The new standard is expected to prevent about 100 of those fire-related deaths each year.

Chairman Jones-Smith notes that many households, even those with no smokers, have one or more lighters on hand and that lighters are often left within the reach of young children. She says, "Most young children who start fires by playing with lighters are ages three and four. But, a child as young as two years old is capable of operating a lighter."

The new standard covers more than 95 percent of the estimated half-billion lighters purchased annually in the United States. It requires all disposable, butane lighters, and most novelty lighters to resist the efforts of 85 percent of the children to operate them in a specified test, using lighters that will produce a signal instead of a flame. Novelty lighters sometimes resemble cartoon characters, animals, vehicles, guns, musical instruments, or other items that may be especially appealing to young children. More expensive lighters, known as luxury lighters, are rarely involved in child-play fire incidents and are not included in the standard.

The child-resistant lighter standard will become effective in summer 1994. This date will provide most lighter manufacturers and importers, adequate time to make necessary production changes to incorporate child-resistant features.

In the meantime, there are child-resistant lighters on the market. Chairman Jones-Smith encourages parents and caregivers to use child-resistant lighters but cautions them against being lulled into a sense of security. "Child-resistant features are merely a second line of defense should a child accidentally gain access to a lighter," she says.