Falling clothes irons rarely cause burns

Area of Science:

• Pediatric burn injuries
• Forensic medicine
• Consumer product safety

Background:

• The Children's Hospital of Michigan Burn Center sees approximately three pediatric contact burns annually from clothes irons.
• These burns often present with well-demarcated patterns, including steam hole impressions, on the face, torso, and extremities of young children, typically around 15 months old.
• Parental reports often cite the child pulling an iron from a shelf or ironing board, but the resulting burn patterns raise questions about the mechanism of injury.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the likelihood of a falling clothes iron producing the specific demarcated burn patterns observed in pediatric cases.
• To determine if the flat heat plate of a falling iron can contact a toddler-sized object.
• To inform clinical and legal investigations of suspected child abuse when burns are attributed to falling irons.

Main Methods:

• A controlled experiment was conducted using a custom-built shelf unit at various heights (36, 60, 72 inches).
• Three irons of different weights were placed on shelves, and their falls were simulated by pulling the dangling cord with a toddler-sized doll positioned below.
• Two hundred seventy simulated falls were videotaped and analyzed, focusing on the point of impact between the iron and the doll.

Main Results:

• In 270 recorded falls, the flat heat plate of the iron never made direct contact with the doll.
• Only seven instances resulted in contact with the linear edge of the iron's heat plate.
• The study demonstrates the low probability of a falling iron's flat surface causing the observed burn patterns.

Conclusions:

• It is highly unlikely that a falling clothes iron, as typically reported, causes the characteristic demarcated burns seen in some pediatric cases.
• The findings suggest that allegations of burns from falling irons should prompt further investigation for potential nonaccidental injury.
• This research provides evidence to support critical evaluation of burn injury mechanisms in children.