All moisturisers are now a fire risk?

[DaffyBloom]

Is anyone else freaked out that apparently they've now discovered that all skin creams, body lotions, etc, make your clothes highly flammable? A few years back they just blamed paraffin-based creams, but now it's literally everything - even products with shea butter, natural oils, etc.

All the warnings focus on patients with skin conditions (which is fair enough, they are heavy users of moisturisers), but surely this is a wider problem? There doesn't seem to be any awareness/discussion in the beauty/skincare communities online, even though the warnings came out a few years back (I only recently discovered them myself, and am now massively on edge)

www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/emollients-new-information-about-risk-of-severe-and-fatal-burns-with-paraffin-containing-and-paraffin-free-emollients

On edge about....going up in flames from the creams that have never made you go up in flames before?

Unless I’m missing something (I’m very tired) that article is still detailing risks about emollients and only saying there MAY be increased risk with other stuff?

Do you have anxiety by any chance?

Honestly there are so many things to worry about in the world at the moment, this isn’t really on my radar.
I heard the same about fabric conditioner though.

I believe it's only a big concern if you're on oxygen. Maybe also if you're prone to falling asleep with a cigarette in your hand? People with severe eczema etc will be using so much cream they're covered in an obvious layer of it. Most of us use a tiny amount by comparison, it sinks in and there's very little if any on clothing.

I think it should be more widely known that they’re fire risks.
I remember being younger with friends and putting face masks on then lighting up a cigarette thinking nothing of it.

I wouldn’t be on edge. Presumably once it soaks in, it’s no longer an issue, and I’ve never heard of a moisturiser-related combustion incident anecdotally from anyone so it must be very rare.

If you suffer from anxiety, maybe watch a couple of “stop, drop & roll” videos in YouTube so that you have a mantra and plan for any unlikely incident? Would that be calming?

I mean, don't hold your clothes over an open flame and you'll be fine?

Been reading about it a bit, they're pretty clear the risk is real with non-paraffin emollients as well - this might be a better page to explain it: www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/News/nfcc-warns-of-fire-risk-when-using-emollients

I think it is the same mechanism as the risk with fabric conditioner (which I personally don't use).

The thing with the skin creams is that the residues build up over time, and apparently can't be washed out entirely - so if you're using body lotion daily (even in quantities less than an eczema patient would), would that still be enough to create a hazard? And yeah, the risk would be higher for smokers or oxygen users, but I guess what freaks me out is that if there ever was an accident, the outcome would be so much worse with the creams present

Tbf I didn't know they didn't wash out over time.

Don’t wash out of what over time? Oils are dissolved by detergents.

Commonly prescribed by GPs, nurses and other clinicians - as well as being available in chemists and supermarkets - emollients are not flammable in themselves. The risk occurs when they absorb into fabrics and are then exposed to naked flames or heat sources resulting in a fire that burns quickly and intensely and can cause serious injury or death.

Right so the takeaway is don’t have naked flames or heat sources in the bedroom, which most people don’t, and the do mainly seem to be talking about the medical type eczema kind of emollients.

I simply don’t believe that standard moisturiser leaves a flammable residue in sheets that cannot be removed with standard laundering (meaning 40 or 50 degrees and a biological detergent, not 20 degrees with soap nuts).

I think a couple of different elements are being conflated to cause a panic. There is not an epidemic of human combustion incidents. They are mostly concerned about older patients.

From the link

"Testing confirmed that the flammability increases each time the fabric is contaminated with emollient and the risk is greater when applied over large parts of the body. Repeated washing of clothing, bandages and bedding at any temperature does not remove the fire risk."

I assumed the fire risk would be removed with washing.

I can believe it of the paraffin based stuff.

I have a gas hob & candles in the bedroom. I don't use eczema products but do use cocoa butter.

It must be a really low risk seeing as millions of people use moisturizers and body creams every day and don't go up in flames.
Everything you ever do has some kind of risk attached to it.
I would put this right at the bottom of my list of things to be concerned about tbh.

It will be at the bottom of my list too but it's on the list now 😆

I had no idea it didn't come out in the wash!

@gagrag

I have a gas hob & candles in the bedroom. I don't use eczema products but do use cocoa butter.

You have a gas hob in the bedroom??

Sorry! As soon as I hit "post" I knew what you meant 🙄

No, but ai am worried about the hidden danger that is pthlates! They are in everything!

I’ve known this happen because someone reported it and the clinic had it up in the office but it was a bed bound patient who smoked in bed.

Which is never a plan for longevity.

You have a gas hob in the bedroom??

🙄

I remember this with my DD2 who had very severe eczema when she was little. The levels of cream I think they're discussing can't really be compared to most people's moisturizing use.

A common recommendation for eczema is to moisturize and then cover as much of the area as possible in appropriate fabric to keep the emollient close to the skin and prevent scratching - but then it's getting on clothes and that stuff is a swine to get out of material. We had to keep replacing clothes and I was a bit twitchy with her around heaters.

For most people, waiting a bit for things to get absorbed before getting dressed or using flames and stuff is enough as the amount is small. It's when it's large amounts, used frequently and covered in material, with someone who can't be mindful of that that there are concerns.

Unless you are planning to have naked flames dangerously near your bedding or clothing I really wouldn't give this another thought. Most people, I think, would read this, acknowledge and move on. You are allowing it too much head space, the risk is surely very very small. If people need lotions they need them.

What do you mean by gas hon in the bedroom @gagrag ? Like a studio flat?

Gas hob^