The cause was discovered to be a highly sensitizing fungicidal chemical called dimethyl fumarate (DMF). Inserted as solid sachets to inhibit mold growth, the chemical off-gassed in people’s homes, causing severe burns and illness. Reports came from the UK and one person even died.
For info on safer sofas and carpets, please read a past article I’d posted.
1. More on the Chinese sofas, company names and compensation for consumers-
A BBC Article on the sofas:
Shops agree to £20m pay-out over ‘toxic sofas’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8644156.stm
2. Consumer Reports wrote about leather sofas.
Make sure to check out the comments below the article about leather
and other materials making people sick all over the world.
Is your leather sofa making you sick?
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/05/toxic-sofas-couches-rashes-chemical-burns-britain.html
I bought a pair of leather boots a few years ago. I couldn’t get anywhere near them and finally got rid of them. Now I know why.
Thanks for another eye-opener. There’s a lot of dangerous stuff in products coming out of China. I feel for the workers there that are also exposed to all this stuff simply produce zillions of products that we don’t really need. I prefer simplicity.