A leader in specialty hardwood flooring is facing strong allegations of excess use of formaldehyde, a known cancer-causing chemical. The company’s low-cost laminate flooring made in China is under investigation after 60 Minutes reported very concrete evidence against the company’s non-compliance with California’s Health and Safety Standards.
Under California’s Proposition 65, businesses are required to notify residents of significant amounts of toxic chemicals being used in their products. Formaldehyde is one of approximately 800 chemicals regulated under this statute. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Richard Drury, an Environmental Attorney commented on the company’s use of this chemical:
“The average level in these products that we found was over six to seven times above the state standard for formaldehyde. And we found some that were close to 20 times above the level that's allowed to be sold. It's a startling amount. It was so high, in fact, that one of our test labs thought their machine was broken.”
While the exact number of homeowners affected is unknown, 60 Minutes reports that there are more than 100 million square feet of this laminate flooring installed in American homes each year.1 A few homeowners have taken it upon themselves to begin removing this flooring from their homes, while Richard Drury has begun launching a class action lawsuit against the company.
These are not the first allegations, as this company is also facing criminal charges to an inquiry that began in 2013 for a violation of import laws. A federal investigation began after they allegedly bought timber illegally logged in Russia.1 The Environmental Investigation Agency spent three years digging up evidence that the company bought millions of square feet of wood that originated in protected forests of East Russia from a Chinese-owned supplier.
The forests, home to the endangered Siberian Tiger, are protected by the Lacey Act, a federal conservation statute that makes it illegal to import if it violates state of foreign law, and was amended to stop illegal logging. The logging of these trees cuts down the supply of acorns and pine nuts available to red deer and wild boars, which make up the Siberian Tiger’s food supply. At the time of the allegation, there were only 450 Siberian Tigers left in the world.2
To learn more about the 60 Minutes report, you can read the full article here.
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1Cooper, Anderson. "Specialty Hardwood Flooring Retailer Linked to Health and Safety Violations." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.
2Banjo, Shelly. "Here’s the Report That May Have Prompted The Lumber Liquidators Raid." Corporate Intelligence RSS. N.p., 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
This post was published on March 9, 2015 and updated on August 7, 2017.
