2008 Woodie Awards
Editor's Column: CPSC fails to protect buyers by not issuing timely recalls
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
In an era marked by incredible understanding of the human body, it should be assumed that a life-threatening household product would not remain on the shelves of the national chain Home Depot for long after it has been recalled. However, after a series of neglects by the manufacture BRTT and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), this assumption is not one that can readily be made.
"Stand 'n Seal," a grout-sealing product manufactured by BRTT, had been recalled in 2005, weeks after the CPSC received numerous reports from users who experienced severe respiratory symptoms. Executives of BRTT, or Roanoke at the time of the recall, were unaware that one of their suppliers had switched from using DuPont's Zonyl 225, to small Georgia-based Innovative Chemical Technologies' Flexipel S-22WS as the active ingredient in the product. The makers of Flexipel S-22WS published a data sheet explaining that it should not be used in aerosol or spray form because of the possibility of severe respiratory symptoms.
When calls began flooding in about the severe symptoms caused by the product, one of the first responses from Chief Executive Richard F. Tripodi was to prompt a staff member who was answering telephones to not inform callers that others had been experiencing similar symptoms. In blatant disregard of federal law, several weeks passed before the manufacturer saw fit to report the threat to the CPSC, rather than the 24-hour deadline required. The report was issued after a poison control center physician threatened to report the concern himself. This clearly demonstrates Tripodi and Roanoke's lack of responsibility in favor of profit
After the delayed recall, the company resupplied Home Depot shelves with 50,000 new cans and issued a statement that any can of "Seal 'n Spray" purchased after June 2005 was safe, yet, Flexipel S-22WS remained present in the next batch of formula put on the shelves. As problems continued to persist, complaints were issued even though the product had been deemed safe by the manufacturer.
Resulting from use of the Flexipel S-22WS-based solution, over 80 users experienced symptoms such as chemical inflammation of the lungs, and some even died. Many users found themselves spending days in intensive care and using oxygen tanks afterwards.
One incident of respiratory trauma should be enough to prompt a manufacturer and the commission to look into a product. Roanoke's and its retailers reluctance to recall the product and the Commission's lack of technology needed in order to test the product and issue a mandatory recall threatened the health of far too many consumers. It is clear that the industry is focused still on profit rather than the health of individual consumers, which is an abhorrent neglect not only of the consumer right to be informed, but the human right to life.
"Stand 'n Seal," a grout-sealing product manufactured by BRTT, had been recalled in 2005, weeks after the CPSC received numerous reports from users who experienced severe respiratory symptoms. Executives of BRTT, or Roanoke at the time of the recall, were unaware that one of their suppliers had switched from using DuPont's Zonyl 225, to small Georgia-based Innovative Chemical Technologies' Flexipel S-22WS as the active ingredient in the product. The makers of Flexipel S-22WS published a data sheet explaining that it should not be used in aerosol or spray form because of the possibility of severe respiratory symptoms.
When calls began flooding in about the severe symptoms caused by the product, one of the first responses from Chief Executive Richard F. Tripodi was to prompt a staff member who was answering telephones to not inform callers that others had been experiencing similar symptoms. In blatant disregard of federal law, several weeks passed before the manufacturer saw fit to report the threat to the CPSC, rather than the 24-hour deadline required. The report was issued after a poison control center physician threatened to report the concern himself. This clearly demonstrates Tripodi and Roanoke's lack of responsibility in favor of profit
After the delayed recall, the company resupplied Home Depot shelves with 50,000 new cans and issued a statement that any can of "Seal 'n Spray" purchased after June 2005 was safe, yet, Flexipel S-22WS remained present in the next batch of formula put on the shelves. As problems continued to persist, complaints were issued even though the product had been deemed safe by the manufacturer.
Resulting from use of the Flexipel S-22WS-based solution, over 80 users experienced symptoms such as chemical inflammation of the lungs, and some even died. Many users found themselves spending days in intensive care and using oxygen tanks afterwards.
One incident of respiratory trauma should be enough to prompt a manufacturer and the commission to look into a product. Roanoke's and its retailers reluctance to recall the product and the Commission's lack of technology needed in order to test the product and issue a mandatory recall threatened the health of far too many consumers. It is clear that the industry is focused still on profit rather than the health of individual consumers, which is an abhorrent neglect not only of the consumer right to be informed, but the human right to life.
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