PEDIATRICS Vol. 71 No. 1 January 1983, pp. 97-99
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Floor Furnace Burns to Children

Lawrence R. Berger MD, MPH1 and Summers Kalishman BA1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque

Three children with grid-like second-degree burns of their extremities from contact with floor furnace registers prompted an examination of this thermal hazard. Average temperature of the gratings was 294°F (146°C), with a range of 180° to 375°F (82.2° to 191°C). All of the furnaces tested were positioned at the entrance to bedrooms and had so little clearance that it was impossible to walk around them without contact with their surface. Infants and toddlers are at particular risk: 1 or 2 seconds of exposure would be expected to produce a serious burn. Suggestions for preventing burns from floor furnaces include turning them off when young children are at home; installing barrier gates to prevent children from coming in contact with the registers; and developing a surface coating or replacement grate with less hazardous thermal properties.

Key Words: burns • accidents

Submitted on March 9, 1982
Accepted on July 14, 1982