Noxious Tile Sealer Stayed on Home Depot Shelves
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/10/stand_seal.html
The Home Depot continued to sell a noxious tile sealer even after the product was recalled and the spray-on substance sent more consumers to the emergency room, according to The New York Times.
Stand 'n Seal seriously injured at least 80 people, killing at least two. The substance often would result in dizziness, wooziness, foam at the mouth, loss of consciousness and extensive lung damage.
The Home Depot and the manufacturer, BRTT, originally recalled the product in August 2005. BRTT reformulated Stand 'n Seal and without doing any comprehensive testing, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission took the manufacturer's word that the new product was safe.
But all BRTT did was give the product a pungent chemical smell, hoping to more effectively warn consumers to use the product only in a well-ventilated area.
But even the company's own tester nearly passed out while using the product in a properly ventilated atmosphere and one boy damaged 80 percent of his lungs as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom where is father was sealing tile, the Times reported.
Even after continued complaints, BRTT focused more on averting an expensive PR disaster rather than making the product safe for consumers, documents uncovered by the Times revealed.
After the recall, consumers continued to fall ill from both the original lot, which The Home Depot and BRTT failed to remove from shelves, and the new formula.
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This message was edited Oct 14, 2007 8:22 PM
