Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP)
Definition
A cigarette design standard, adopted in the US (2010), EU (2011), Australia (2010), and Canada (2005), requiring cigarettes to self-extinguish when placed on a test substrate, reducing smouldering-material ignition risk.
- US adoption
- 2010, state-by-state fire safe cigarette laws
- EU adoption
- 2011
- Canada adoption
- 2005, first jurisdiction to require it
- Mechanism
- Bands of thicker paper act as speed bumps that starve the ember of oxygen
- Test method
- ASTM E2187, cigarette placed on layered filter paper substrate
Common questions
Does an RIP cigarette rule out smoking as an ignition source?+
No. RIP cigarettes self-extinguish on a standard test substrate more often than conventional cigarettes, but they can still ignite soft furnishings under favourable conditions such as trapped air in upholstery, so a smouldering-material fire cause is not excluded just because RIP cigarettes were present.
How can an investigator tell if a cigarette butt at a scene was RIP-compliant?+
The compliance bands are usually visible as faint rings of thicker paper along the length of an unburned cigarette. On a fully consumed butt this is often not determinable, so brand identification from packaging or purchase records is the more reliable route.
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