Iris Publishers_Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology (JTSFT)

Scald Burn Protection of the Commercially Available Children’s Sleepwear

Abstract

Children’s sleepwear is often recalled from the consumer market due to non-conformance; however, scholarly articles auditing the thermal protection performance of commercially available children’s sleepwear are scarce. Moreover, the protection against hot liquid exposure, a prevalent cause of child burn injury, has never been studied. This study examines the integrity of the commercially available children’s sleepwear with Flammable Fabrics Act, and thermal protection performance against hot splash. Sleepwear knitted in different structures with different fiber compositions were selected and exposed to vertical flammability tester and hot liquid tester. A very poor splash protection was observed by all the fabrics under study. Although, all of the fabrics passed the vertical flammability test; dangerous molten polymer hazard posed by the synthetic polyester fabrics calls for a careful selection of fibers for this sophisticated class of apparel. A better protection performance could be envisioned should the fabrics were made rich of inherently flame-retardant fibers.

Keywords: Children’s sleepwear; Vertical flammability; Thermal protection; Scald (splash) protection; Jersey knit; Interlock knit; Modacrylic fiber


Introduction

Children’s sleepwear, as defined by the US consumer product safety commission (US CPSC), are the clothing sized above 9 months and up to size 14 that are primarily used for sleeping or sleeping related activities. US CPSC enforced children’s sleepwear safety regulations in Flammable Fabrics Act. According to the act, children’s sleepwear should either be snug fitted, or it must pass certain flammability test. The sleepwear standard was formulated to protect children from serious burn injury imitated from sleep ware or similar garments like pajamas, robes or nightgowns [1].

Although people from all age, gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are susceptible to burn injury, the children are the most vulnerable class of people who suffer from burns [2]. Tragically, 24% of all burn injuries in United States (USA) occur in children, and burn deaths were the 3rd and 5th among all injury deaths in children aged 5-9, and 1-4 years respectively during the period of 2011-2015 [3]. Tragically, 24% of all burn injuries in United States (USA) occur in children, and burn deaths were the 3rd and 5th among all injury deaths in children aged 5-9, and 1-4 years respectively during the period of 2011-2015 [3-5]. Mcloughlin et al., in their article on sleepwear related burn injuries among children, reviewed the records of 678 burn injuries over 8 years period in a burn unit, and reported that more than 27% of sleepwear related injuries are scald injuries caused by hot liquids [6,7]. However, the scald protection of the children’s sleepwear has never been studied before [8].

Material parameters associated with flammability of fabrics such as (i) ease of ignition (ii) heat release rate (iii) total heat release (iv) flame propagation rate and (v) mechanism of heat transfer has been studied extensively [9]. Clothing made of natural fibers such as cotton poses sudden ignition hazard as they burn readily [10,11]. On the other hand, synthetics such as polyester introduce molten polymer hazard owing to their thermoplasticity [10]. It has been reported that hotter burning component (such as polyester) in a blend enhances the burning rate of the cooler (such as cotton) component, and the flame temperatures be the same as hotter component [12,13]. The danger of polyester-cotton blends’, [14]. Cotton knitted fabrics either employ inherently flameretardant fibers (such as modacrylic) in the blend to increase the limiting oxygen index (LOI) or being finished with synthetic flame retardants that can cause cancer in human body [15-17]. It is empirical that, fiber and fabric parameters need to be reconsidered to design a sleepwear especially for children.

Alarmingly, very often children’s sleepwear including nightgowns and pajama are recalled from the market by the suppliers for non-conforming to flammability standards. Very recently in 2017, Asherangel recalled 950 pcs of cotton sleepwear, Richie House recalled 1500 children’s 100% polyester robes, Sweet Bamboo recalled 500 children’s 50/50 polyester/viscose sleepwear. However, scholarly article auditing the commercially available children’s sleepwear is very limited. This research, therefore, aims to audit the integrity of the commercially available children’s sleepwear to the FFA, and to examine the scald protection for the first time against hot liquid splash.

Commercially available snug fitting children’s sleepwear were purchased from stores and online and selected for this study based on their material properties including fiber composition, structure, and fabric weight. Their physical, durability, and comfort related properties were determined. Integrity with the FFA was evaluated by vertical flammability tester. Protection against scald injury was evaluated by using hot liquid splash tester. This result would provide insight to better understand the protection performance provided by children’s sleepwear, especially in case of exposure to hot water splash.

For More Open Access Journals in Iris Publishers Please Click on: https://irispublishers.com/

For More Information:https://irispublishers.com/jtsft/fulltext/scald-burn-protection-of-the-commercially-available-childrens-sleepwear.ID.000591.php 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturated Fatty Acids Derivatives as Assistants Materials for Textile Processes

Image
  Abstract Many auxiliaries have been used in textile industries in dry or wet processes. One of the important based materials is fatty acids and its derivatives. The present work aims at preparing some textile auxiliaries based on saturated fatty acids. Six different materials were used to react with each fatty acid. Produced materials have been characterised using FT-IR, HLB and cloud point. Based on the HLB values, produced materials have been used as softeners or as O/W emulsifiers (printing paste). Treated fabrics with softeners show a very good physical and mechanical properties and printed fabrics with prepared pastes shows a good printing paste with good prints characteristics (colour strength and colour fastness). Read More About this Article:  https://irispublishers.com/jtsft/fulltext/saturated-fatty-acids-derivatives-as-assistants-materials-for-textile-processes.ID.000516.php Read More Iris Publishers Google Scholar Articles :  https://scholar.google.com/citati...
Read more

Modern Fibers: A Human- Centered Technology

Image
Textile Science and Fashion Technology Clothing represents one of the most ancient forms of human expression and is a tool that an individual use to express his/her culture and social status in society. Since the dawn of civilization, humans have used fabrics to provide basic warmth and show aesthetics. People gradually added more patterns and styles, creating clothing out of different materials. Today, the U.S. fashion and apparel industry are a $12 billion business, with the average American family spending $1,700 on clothes annually (BLS Data 2018) [1]. The fiber sector of the clothing and textile industry has undergone substantial change in recent years, and the modern fibers have opened a whole new frontier for clothing products. Modern fibers, also known as smart fibers, are becoming a human-centered technology. The smart fabrics will have the capability to see, hear, and sense their surroundings and to respond to the external stimulus through an active control mechanis...
Read more

The Rain Maker

Image
Opinion On the bottom floor of the Besse Library and across the Media Center is a room that either most people probably don’t pay attention to or always wonder what it contains. The room holds thousands of stories from all over the country, dating from over a century ago to the present day. These stories are not limited to paper and a bound cover but by thread and fabric. They all help create the Historic Costume Study Collection. Upon entering the cold room, you might feel overwhelmed. On the wall to the left are shelves that contain purses, hats, and muffs; on the right, there are shoes, gloves, and jewelry in cabinets and in repurposed library catalog card holders. Of course, you cannot overlook the mountain of garment boxes reaching up to the ceiling. The back wall has the fur and extensive wedding gown sections. Clothing racks are placed in messy rows that make maneuvering around difficult. The Historic Costume Study Collection has all you could ever need and want from fashion. Th...
Read more