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Trading Standards Criticised Over Slow Reaction
05 June 2008
Solicitors demand product recall for sofas
Russell Jones & Walker, the solicitors dealing with more than 700 personal injury claims relating to leather sofas sold by some of the UK’s largest furniture retailers, has slammed Trading Standards for its slow reactions.
So far more than 1000 people have lodged legal proceedings after Chinese-manufactured sofas sold by high street retailers including Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsleys appeared to cause a range of symptoms including allergies, rashes and burns, possibly caused by chemical sachets fitted inside the furniture. The first claims were lodged back October 2007 and the issue was highlighted again by a BBC Watchdog programme aired in February. Despite this, the sofas were still being sold as recently as 4 weeks ago and Trading Standards have yet to issue a product recall notice.
Christian Shotton of Russell Jones & Walker believes that many of the sofa related injuries could have been avoided if action had been taken sooner. He said: “The first reports of these sofa related injuries were made last year and yet some retailers were still selling the products as a recently as a few weeks ago. Although there are now hundreds of claimants with very real injuries, Trading Standards have failed to act and have still have not issued a product recall notice.
We estimate that more than 100,000 of these sofas have been sold and there will still be people out there unaware that a deterioration in their health could be linked to their sofa. Trading Standards must act now.”
Investigations have revealed that the ‘sofa burns’ are being caused by Dimethyl Fumarate, a chemical known to cause skin irritation. This fungicide is contained within a sachet which is placed inside the sofas in order to protect against mould during storage and transit.
The majority of the sofas have now been recalled, but if you are in doubt, affected batch numbers can be checked on http://www.rjw.co.uk/news-events/news/sofa-injury-compensation
Anyone wishing to receive advice with respect to information on possibly making a claim should contact Russell Jones & Walker on 0800 884 0324.