One among Amazon’s bestselling merchandise is a well being hazard, alleges a proposed class-action lawsuit towards Zinus, the maker of a well-liked and cheap “Green Tea Mattress” bought by retailers nationwide.
A California girl is main the proposed class-action go well with — one in all a number of lawsuits being levied towards the corporate — representing a number of thousand folks throughout the nation who declare to have suffered well being troubles from flame-resistant fiberglass fibers launched from the product.
The go well with, filed in Sacramento in July, alleges the South Korean firm’s mattresses have taken a toll on a number of clients. Vanessa Gutierrez instructed the Los Angeles Occasions that the Zinus mattress she purchased for her daughter on Amazon for $400 wound up costing her practically $20,000 in damages, together with medical payments.
The fiberglass publicity left scars nonetheless seen on her four-year-old daughter’s chest and calves, she instructed the paper.
Fiberglass, a combination of plastic and glass, can irritate the eyes, nostril and throat, however the sort utilized in flame-retardant limitations shouldn’t be thought of hazardous or a reason for long-term well being points, in keeping with the Client Product Security Fee.
“Most consumer complaints about fiberglass being released from mattresses that have been reviewed by staff involved the outer cover being removed or damaged. If the outer cover remains intact, then the exposure to fiberglass particles is expected to be minimal,” the company instructed CBS MoneyWatch in an electronic mail.
The hearth-resistant materials in its merchandise is “standard in the mattress industry” and never thought of hazardous by the CPSC, Zinus instructed CBS MoneyWatch Monday in an electronic mail.
The Zinus queen-sized Inexperienced Tea reminiscence foam mattress sells for about $310 on Amazon, the place it has 4.4 stars out of 5 from greater than 130,000 reviewers.
Skilled remediation
A cheaper possibility than different fire-resistant supplies, fiberglass fibers have been discovered to be “a potential risk of consumer exposure if the zipper on the outer cover is opened,” in keeping with a study by California’s Division of Public Well being, revealed within the Worldwide Journal of Environmental Analysis and Public Well being in February.
“It’s not hyperbole to say that this has ravaged thousands of individuals’ lives from across the United States,” James Radcliffe, a private harm lawyer with Cueto Regulation, instructed the Occasions.
The agency first launched the suit on behalf of an Illinois couple who allegedly needed to spend months in a resort after their residence was contaminated by fiberglass launched from a Zinus mattress.
Amanda Chandler and Robert Durham skilled tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in property injury and spent greater than $20,000 for skilled remediation companies after shopping for a Zinus reminiscence foam mattress from Walmart for his or her little one in the summertime of 2019, in keeping with their 2020 suit.
Warning to clients
The mattresses include directions warning clients to not take away the outer mattress cowl to guard the fireplace barrier inside, Zinus added in its response to CBS MoneyWatch.
Some reviewers on Amazon’s web site warned different clients to not unzip the outer mattress cowl. One purchaser wrote that they did so and claimed it “unleashed [an] invisible fiberglass storm into our house.”
“Customer safety is a top priority at Amazon, and we are thoroughly investigating this case,” emailed a spokesperson for Amazon, which presently lists the “bed-in-a-box” mattress because the #1 bestseller in its class.
Walmart famous that it and different retailers have been initially named within the go well with filed in March of 2020, however the criticism was amended that June to dismiss claims towards it and different retailers.
