A study conducted by the Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS) on dollar-store products is reported to have revealed high levels of toxic chemicals (including lead, tin, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), bromine, and phthalates) in 81% of the 164 products tested, which covered everything from home décor products to office supplies to children’s toys. According to the report released by the CHS, these chemicals can cause birth defects, kidney damage, brain damage, cancer, reproductive problems, and asthma. The dollar stores tested by CHS included Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree.
Toxic and otherwise defective household products have the potential to cause serious injury and death to consumers. The Killino Firm’s defective-products lawyers have extensive experience with cases arising out of injuries and deaths caused in this manner. If you have been injured or one of your loved ones has died from exposure to a dangerous and defective product, contact The Killino Firm for more information about your legal rights and options.
Legal Liability for Injuries Caused by Toxic or Otherwise Defective Products
When someone is injured, made ill, or dies as a result of the person’s use of or exposure to a product that contains unsafe levels of toxic chemicals or that is otherwise “defective,” as that term is defined in products-liability law, the product’s seller as well as the product’s manufacturer, designer, assemblers, suppliers, and distributors may be held strictly liable (i.e., without proof of negligence on the part of any of these defendants) for the resultant damages suffered by the injured person or deceased person’s survivors. In order for such defendants to be subjected to this strict liability, the product must have contained a defect in its design, manufacture, or warnings at both the time of sale and the time the injury-causing accident occurred. Products-liability plaintiffs must also show that the product was being used as it was intended or reasonably expected to be used when the injury-causing accident occurred.
Products may be held defective in products-liability actions despite manufacturers’ and sellers’ compliance with current industry standards and regulations. Thus, CHS’s acknowledgement that the tested products “fall into gaps” in the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 and the statements reportedly released by two of the dollar stores included in the CHS study that the stores had complied with all federal and state regulations may not insulate these parties from strict liability if any of their products are found to be defective despite such compliance and to have been a cause of a consumer’s injury or death.
Obtain Legal Assistance from The Killino Firm, P.C.
The Killino Firm has been recognized across the country for its skillful representation of children and adults who have been injured by dangerous and defective products. If you have been injured or one of your family members has died in this manner, our defective-products attorneys can help you obtain the justice you deserve from the parties responsible for your injuries or loved one’s death.
