Toxic sofas sold in Argos & Land of Leather making people ill

_Whimsical_

Some sofas sold in Land of Leather and Argos in Ireland have a toxic mould retardant on them that can cause severe skin burns. At least 3000 people have been treated for burns in the UK and some have in Ireland too. A case treated in Vincents Hospital in Dub was one of the first to be published in a medical journal as "Toxic Sofa Syndrome". A class action lawsuit has awarded a large sum to 300 people in the UK who were awarded between £1250 and £10,000 depending on the severity of their symptoms. In Ireland some people have received up to £50,000 in compensation for the severity of their burns.

The thing is according to the news tonight many people are unaware that their illness/burns are caused by their sofas and are going to doctors and being treated for excema and other skin conditions and are getting no better. For some people it had gone on for 2 years before it was diagnosed and correctly treated. If you have a skin condition that started around the same time as you got your sofa it might be worth considering it as a possible cause.

More info here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7107321.ece

Zeppi

I'm an ex Land of Leather branch manager and I can tell that these sofa's in question they were NEVER sold to the Irish Market at least by Land of Leather.

zeppi

Sponge Bob

Argos sold these sofas too, the Vincents case may have been one of theirs not a LoL sofa. A chemical was used to prevent mould in the sofas which are all leather sofas.

The sofas were sold through three main retailers: Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsley's and were all made by one Chinese manufacturer - Linkwise. Watchdog discovered the problems were caused by a sachet of fungicide put inside the sofas to prevent mould. Now, a second manufacturer has been linked to the furniture problem - China-based firm Eurosofa. People have been complaining of the same skin reactions after buying furniture carrying the Eurosofa label from Land of Leather stores.

Initially Land of Leather refused to accept that sofas not made by Linkwise could be a problem. But Watchdog investigators found anti-mould sachets and tests revealed they contained dimethyl fumarate.

Biggins

Zeppi wrote: »

I'm an ex Land of Leather branch manager and I can tell that these sofa's in question they were NEVER sold to the Irish Market at least by Land of Leather.

zeppi

I'm afraid I will have to disagree with you on that.

Sample news items:
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8644156.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8638304.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...cs/7424408.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7791569.stm
* http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/business_money/ampapostoxic+sofaampapos+victims+to+receive+amp16320m+payout/3626292

Or maybe you would care to explain that thought to the following department!
Dermatology Dept, St Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4
Maybe you should also have a read of the following very detailed medical report in the Irish Medical journal:

* http://imj.ie//Issue_detail.aspx?issueid=+&pid=3971&type=Contents

Short quote!

The St Vincent’s case is reported in the Irish Medical Journal. The housewife suffered from rashes on her body for two years before discovering the cause. The rash, which started on her lower back, began four weeks after she bought a new couch. It cleared when she went on holiday but recurred when she came back. Her patch tests at the hospital tested positive for dimethyl fumarate.

...or maybe this person too is taking through their arse!
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7107321.ece

_Whimsical_

I think it needs to be stressed that the people who were affected by this toxin didn't just have a bit of an itch. They have serious burns that often required hospital treatment and have seriously affected their quality of life.

I think it's quite depressing that there hasn't been more in the Irish media about this. Are we not outraged that we could pay good money to reputable retailers for a product that turns out to be highly toxic? It really should not just be an issue for the people who were unfortunate enough to suffer directly. Everyone should be horrified by it and making noise to ensure it doesn't happen again.

becah

Hi there,
Thanks for sharing this information.
I was just wondering if anyone would happen to know if sofas sold from other retailers such could have been affected or is it just the 3 retailers mentioned? And also, is it only leather sofas affected by this? Or could it also apply to the 'leather look' sofas?

The reason I ask is that I'm living in a rented apartment that received a suite of 'leather look/fake leather' furniture from BargainTown when we moved in.
I'm prone to very mild eczema in the past, but since moving, my skin has gotten quite bad - constantly itchy and irritated.
I've put it down to mould as its poorly ventilated, and am constantly washing potential spots etc, but the problem hasn't really gone away, and my skin only improves when i'm away for a few days from the apartment b- I spent a week at my parents and it cleared completely, yet returned when i came back. I'm on my 2nd course of steroids in a month to cure it and just want to get it sorted.
A friend told me about the watchdog program and when I googled I came across this thread.I checked the couch to look for those silica sachet but they're gone, think i probably hovered them up when cleaning!

I know it seems farfetched, but I could like to find out if there is any link at all and don't really know how to go about it! Cheers!

Zeppi

Biggins wrote: »

I'm afraid I will have to disagree with you on that.

Sample news items:
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8644156.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8638304.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...cs/7424408.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7791569.stm
* http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/business_money/ampapostoxic+sofaampapos+victims+to+receive+amp16320m+payout/3626292

Or maybe you would care to explain that thought to the following department!
Dermatology Dept, St Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4
Maybe you should also have a read of the following very detailed medical report in the Irish Medical journal:

* http://imj.ie//Issue_detail.aspx?issueid=+&pid=3971&type=Contents

Short quote!



...or maybe this person too is taking through their arse!
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7107321.ece

Can you tell me where in the Vincent report states that it was purchased from LOL?.

regards,
Zeppi

Biggins

Zeppi wrote: »

Can you tell me where in the Vincent report states that it was purchased from LOL?.

regards,
Zeppi

It don't and you know it.

It DOES however refer to an IRISH lady living IN IRELAND that states that she WAS effected by the chemical that was in a sofa you claim was never sold here.

O and by the fcukin way - the young girl thats in the Sunday times report...

THATS MY DAUGHTER!

...whats more we still have the receipt for the sofa we purchased IN LAND OF LEATHER - you claim was never sold here.

So DON'T come on here and spout rubbish about how they were NEVER sold here!

PURE BLOODY CRAP!!! TELL THAT TO MY DAUGHTER
HERE IS ANOTHER PICTURE OF HER:



Want MORE???








Medical treatments that had to be applied 3 times daily AS WELL AS SPECIAL BATHS:



Take your uninformed garbage elsewhere!

hobochris

Biggins wrote: »

It don't and you know it.
It DOES however refer to an IRISH lady living IN IRELAND that states that she WAS effected by the chemical that was in a sofa you claim was never sold here.

O and by the fcukin way - the young girl that in in the Sunday times report...

THATS MY DAUGHTER!

...whats more we still have the receipt for the sofa we purchased - you claim was never sold here.

So DON'T come on here and spout rubbish about how they were NEVER sold here!

PURE BLOODY CRAP!!! TELL THAT TO MY DAUGHTER
HERE IS ANOTHER PICTURE OF HER:



Want MORE???








Take your uninformed garbage elsewhere!

I also used to work for land of leather in the warehouse, AFAIK when the bad batch of Sofa's were discovered they were all diverted to the head office/warehouse, To be dealt with there.

However it is possible that your original sofa was damaged in transit and one of the same model was sent over from the head office/warehouse, which may have accidentally been taking from the bad batch by mistake.

Unfortunately I don't know the details of your order so All I can do is speculate from my knowledge of the companies logistic operations.

The only information the sales people and store managers would have been given is that they were pulled from the Irish warehouse before they hit the docks.

Its very unfortunate what happened with your daughter, something I don't think anybody would want to happen to anyone.

I don't think Zeppi was laughing at your daughters situation, LOL is short hand for Land Of Leather used by its employee's in correspondence.

Anyway neither myself nor Zeppi work for this company anymore so All we can do is provide information from our experience as employee's of this company.

I hope all goes well and you get the compensation you deserve from the Administrators appointed to Land of Leather.

Biggins

hobochris wrote: »

I also used to work for land of leather in the warehouse, AFAIK when the bad batch of Sofa's were discovered they were all diverted to the head office/warehouse, To be dealt with there.

However it is possible that your original sofa was damaged in transit and one of the same model was sent over from the head office/warehouse, which may have accidentally been taking from the bad batch by mistake.

Unfortunately I don't know the details of your order so All I can do is speculate from my knowledge of the companies logistic operations.

The only information the sales people and store managers would have been given is that they were pulled from the Irish warehouse before they hit the docks.

Well I know of other cases besides our own where there sofas made it to the shop floors and into our homes.
The store we got ours from, one of the staff there admitted that she knew herself of other cases the same as ours.

I don't know what was going on in the background but sure as hell - someone screwed up big time and we ended up paying the price for it, especially my daughter for over a year!

One other person effected by the way in the same country even worked for the department of health!
There was a write up in the Drogheda Independent at the time about her situation too.

I don't think Zeppi was laughing at your daughters situation, LOL is short hand for Land Of Leather used by its employee's in correspondence.

I see that now and amended my post to account for that.
Appreciate you pointing that out.

Anyway neither myself nor Zeppi work for this company anymore so All we can do is provide information from our experience as employee's of this company.
I hope all goes well and you get the compensation you deserve from the Administrators appointed to Land of Leather.

Just for clarification: The cases in Ireland are been taken again the insurance company that was hired by LOL - NOT LOL itself as they are now officially defunct.

Clearly what company head management was actually doing and then saying to those below them was not the same thing as far as many suspect.

hobochris

Biggins wrote: »

Clearly what company head management was actually doing and then saying to those below them was not the same thing as far as many suspect.

yup,that was pretty much the feeling from the inside anyway, well in my department.

Sponge Bob

It wasn't a bad batch either, shiploads of these came in from 2006 to mid-late 2008 before the chemical was removed. Some were possibly on display in LoL shops to the very end.

The problem in Ireland is that class actions are not allowed and individual cases must be taken instead.

VERYinterested

Biggins, when I heard the news yesterday I remembered your posts on here when the problem initially arose. Just wondering, how is she now? I hope she is doing a lot better.

dudara

Biggins I do appreciate the situation that occured for you and your family. I hope your daughter will recover fully

But, in general, oversized text etc is not used in this forum. And I ask all posters to be civil.

dudara

Biggins

VERYinterested wrote: »

Biggins, when I heard the news yesterday I remembered your posts on here when the problem initially arose. Just wondering, how is she now? I hope she is doing a lot better.

Thankfully after a year and a half of hell, as regards her skin, she is better.
All thats left now is her non-cureable condition of Scoliosis - and its tough enough to deal with that and continue the battle to see a basic service to see her treated (no thanks to Harney), without having to take on another battle for two years nearly now, with another shower of entrenched deniers.

Stinicker

This was a huge case on BBC's Watchdog programme last year with weekly updates. Did you see that Biggins? I hope your daughter gets better soon, that looks bloody sore, hopefully it won't leave scaring.

Biggins

Stinicker wrote: »

This was a huge case on BBC's Watchdog programme last year with weekly updates. Did you see that Biggins? I hope your daughter gets better soon, that looks bloody sore, hopefully it won't leave scaring.

We didn't see that programme initially but a relative informed us of it and subsequently we tuned in.
After checking all the information they provided and the links (some above in previous posts) to the sofas involved, we finally after many. many months were able to track down what was causing the problem.
Prior to that we had been testing everything in the house: food stuffs, soaps, washing powders, milk/eggs/etc, paint on the walls they might have been in contact with, the carpets... I mean EVERYTHING!

I suspect that there is still a lot of people out there in Ireland in the dark that have this problem and they don't know the source is right under them as they sit and talk about it, scratching their heads, looking for a solution!

_Whimsical_

That's a really worrying aspect of this. Two people interviewed on the news about this were so severely affected that they couldn't work as the burns were so bad that they affected their mobility as well as their ability to sit normally for any period of time. It took one woman two years to get a diagnosis. There could be other people out there who are in this position who have no idea what's wrong with them and who will get no better until they get rid of their sofa.