Prevention of children's burns: legislation and fabric flammability.

Since 1980, legislation has regulated the ignition characteristics of commercially manufacturered children's nightwear to reduce risk of burns. Between 1971 and 1984, there were 699 hospital discharges of children treated for clothing ignition burns. This evaluation analysed discharge summaries of 493 children, surveyed children's nightwear in 101 retail shops, surveyed 476 Plunket parents regarding home-sewing practices and 28 fabric retailers for fibre content labelling. Burns resulting from clothing ignition, both daywear and nightwear, have decreased slightly in recent years. Most manufactured nightwear for children complied with the regulations. However, in 44% of families, a child might have worn home-sewn and thus unregulated night clothes. Consumers and sales assistants were generally ignorant about fabric flammability. High-fire risk fabrics were recommended by sales assistants and used by home-sewers. The relative involvement of manufactured and home-sewn nightwear in burns should be determined. Children's nightwear and fabrics should bear fibre content labels.