Investigators estimated between two and nine additional cancer cases in every 100,000 people exposed.
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It was almost one year ago to the date (February 20, 2015) when Lumber Liquidators shares nosedived following the scathing “60 Minutes” report about Chinese laminates. The company eventually halted the sale of the controversial flooring from China.
The CDC says exposure to the revised formaldehyde levels in indoor air could cause increased symptoms and other respiratory issues for people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She said Monday’s revelation was scary because she has 6-year-old and 15-year-old sons in the house. Lumber Liquidators, based in Toano, Va., also began providing customers with free air-quality tests.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it’s like it resurfaced again because I thought everything was OK, ‘” she said Monday. It said that resulted in health risks calculated using airborne concentration elements about three times lower than they should have been.
Now that CDC has reversed its findings, clearly pointing out the increased risk of cancer in its products, Lumber Liquidators should brace itself for a torrid time, not merely on the public relations spectrum but on the business, legal and regulatory front too.
But the analysis said there was a small added cancer risk from formaldehyde released from the flooring at levels seen in the testing. Instead, the government agency has advised consumers to do everything possible to reduce their exposure to the unsafe carcinogen found in their laminate flooring.
CBS’s (CBS.N) “60 Minutes” program, which broke the Lumber Liquidators story last March, highlighted the revised report on Sunday, saying it had been alerted to the possibility that the CDC scientists had made an error in the initial report. The company tried to defend itself, arguing that its flooring was indeed safe, but sales plunged regardless and ex-CEO Robert Lynch resigned.
Investors are fretting that renewed concerns about the company’s products will dent the bottom line.
Although Market Watch reports the company has since cut ties with China, the damage was already been done.
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Lumber Liquidators said in a statement the agency was overestimating the health risks.
