James City-based Lumber Liquidators faces another lawsuit

JAMES CITY - Lumber Liquidators, the Toano-based national wood flooring manufacturer, is facing a new lawsuit in relation to flooring made from Chinese wood.

A California environmental activist group, Global Community Monitor, filed suit Wednesday n state superior court in Oakland. It alleges formaldehyde emission levels from Lumber Liquidators flooring, according to recent tests, are more than 100 times the level allowed under California law.

Lumber Liquidators' website claims that all of its flooring meets California standards.

Plaintiffs conducted more than 50 tests of Lumber Liquidators Chinese-made laminate flooring, using a variety of different testing methods and sample batches, according to the Global Community Monitor complaint. Test results showed average initial formaldehyde exposures over 100 times above the amount allowed to be sold without a warning label under Proposition 65, Californias main toxics law.

Lumber Liquidators quickly denied the allegations.

The allegations in this lawsuit concerning our product are simply flat-out false, Lumber Liquidators said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. Our product meets relevant environmental standards and undergoes rigorous, independent, third party testing.

More specifically, our internal testing and that conducted by third parties concluded that product levels fell well below the Proposition 65 safe harbor limits, the statement continued. Further, Lumber Liquidators products are produced and independently tested to ensure compliance with the low emissions standards set by the California Air Resource Board. We apply these stringent California standards to products we sell nationwide.

Formaldehyde is commonly used in the glue that holds laminate flooring together. During and after installation, Global Community Monitor claims it can be released as a gas that can cause burning eyes, nose and throat irritation, coughing, headaches, dizziness, joint pain and nausea. Both the federal government and the state of California rank formaldehyde as a carcinogen if there is long-term exposure.

The levels of formaldehyde our tests found in Lumber Liquidators laminate flooring are astounding and alarming, said Denny Larson, executive director of Global Community Monitor, in a press release announcing the suit. Its unconscionable that Lumber Liquidators would sell this product to customers to install in their homes without informing families of the potential health risks involved, especially since they make a point of bragging about how environmentally safe it is.

California's Proposition 65 requires products containing chemicals that cause cancer to carry a warning label if the levels exceed the so-called safe harbor level.

Read more from the original source:
James City-based Lumber Liquidators faces another lawsuit