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Lumber Liquidators is a flooring store which sells, hardwood, tile, vinyl
and laminate flooring. Recently CBS '60 Minutes' investigated into the
claim that Lumber Liquidators was selling floor made in their Chinese factory
that was not compliant with the California standard for formaldehyde
emissions in their laminate flooring.
Executive Director of a nonprofit group Global Community Monitor,
Denny Larson, and an environmental attorney, Richard Drury tested laminate
flooring purchased at several Lumber Liquidators in California, that consisted
of flooring made in China. Several pieces came back testing high levels
of formaldehyde emissions that were six to seven times more than the
state level. A few came back that were twenty times above the limit. Flooring
is legally allowed to contain formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is used in the
laminate flooring glue that holds each piece together when assembled. The
laminate top cover helps keep the formaldehyde in the flooring and out of
the air we breathe. But the material made in China can be harmful. Longterm
exposure to such chemicals at those levels can increase the risk for
chronic respiratory irritation, change in a person's lung function and increase
the risk of asthma and can be especially dangerous for children.
Since Larson and Drury only tested flooring in California '60 Minutes'
went to and tested laminate flooring stores in Virginia, Florida, Texas, Illinois
and New York. The reported samples said that only one of the 31 samples
of the Chinese-made laminate flooring was compliant with California
Air Resources Board (CARB) and their emissions standards. The suspected
flooring is in "hundreds of thousands" of homes nationwide, according to
Drury.
This is not the first time Lumber Liquidators has been in trouble. It has
been accused of illegally sourcing logged wood from Russia and those accusations
may be behind a 2013 raid on its headquarters.
After the '60 Minutes' exposé aired Sunday night, the Lumber Liquidators
stock plunged more than 25% by mid-morning Monday.
Lumber Liquidators owns 352 stores in the U.S. and Canada. They operate
seven stores in Wisconsin with stores in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison.
I am not trying to scare you into ripping up all your brand new flooring.
But this is something I never thought of before and it just gives you something
to think about before buying certain products and making sure what
you are buying is right for you and your family. For more information, go
to cbsnews.com and