2013 Volume 63 Issue 3 Pages 67-78
RIP (Reduced Ignition Propensity) cigarettes have been drawing attention as a measure for reducing the loss of fire caused by a lit cigarette in Western countries. On the other hand, the lifestyle in Japan is a little different from those in such countries. In order to examine the effectiveness of RIP cigarettes in the context of real fire situations in Japan, we conducted the experimental study using the conventional cigarettes and RIP cigarettes as ignition sources and some types of futon made of different filling and outer materials as the ignited materials, assuming smoking in the futon. Then, we examined the results statistically to see whether or not there is the difference in ignition propensity between conventional and RIP cigarette in relation to the types of futon and cigarette placement conditions respectively. As a result, experimental results show no significant difference between conventional cigarettes and RIP cigarettes in terms of the occurrence rate of continuous smoldering of futon under all of experimental conditions in this study, while significant differences were observed between different futon types and between different placement conditions respectively under some experimental conditions.