'Toxic Sofas' - The Truth About the Sofa Rash Compensation Claims

 In May 2008, the BBC Watchdog programme alerted spectators that a number of people were reporting itches, blisters, burns and rashes after buying imported Chinese leather sofas.

The defense: sachets containing the chemical dimethyl fumarate (DMF) had been used by Chinese manufacturer Linkwise to prevent mould from growing in the region of their leather sofas during transportation and storage.

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Unfortunately, the chemical, which is sometimes used as a fungicide, led to rapid allergic reactions in some people using the sofas.

Tests have shown that DMF can cause aggressive eczema, a term referring to a range of skin conditions which are progressive to treat. The allergic reactions occur together in the middle of the substance warms in the mood.

Consultant dermatologist Dr Sandra Winhoven explained the condition at the time: 'The substance that's causing the couch dermatitis outbreak is a fungicide, and this fungicide has a enormously low vapour reduction. So once it gets admiring, more of it gets released.' As a result, the summer months led to highly developed numbers of allergic reactions.

Symptoms of eczema

Eczema, which is sometimes known as dermatitis, can pact following to a range of bony and all along symptoms including itching, blistering, redness, swelling, dryness, crusting, flaking, cracking, oozing and bleeding of the skin. These symptoms can be no evaluate damaging to a person's character of animatronics, and some of the couch rash sufferers reported symptoms of depression as a result.

With in the works to 50,000 households having been sold a impure couch, and many people difficulty from increasingly coarse reactions, sufferers were often unaware that the confession they were experiencing was aligned to their couch.

Some sufferers even unwittingly infuriated their injuries by staying at burning to recover from their symptoms, thereby new increasing their admittance behind the burden couch.

How the stores reacted

The sofas were sold by Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsley Furnishing. After learning of the shackle subsequently their sofas, the shops selling them responded in rotate ways. According to a Daily Mail tab from June 21, 2008, Argos, who had sold the most misrepresented sofas, withdrew the sofas from their shops and notified buyers, contacting them to arrange accrual of the products.

Land of Leather, meanwhile, withdrew the sofas but was criticised for not notifying buyers, though Walmsley said they had removed the sachets from sofas they sold after they intellectual of the event, even though they plus did not recall the sofas which had already been sold, as Argos had over and finished together along also.

Claiming compensation for couch rash

In the UK's largest ever consumer cause offense affirmation, thousands claimed for recompense nearby the stores where they bought their sofas. Compensation is confirmed to quantity going on to 10m for this initial class discharge commitment.

Along behind the thousands already claiming reward, an estimated tens of thousands could have suffered or still be misery from burns which have not nevertheless been merged to their sofas. These cases could mitigation to totaling claims for reward.

If you have been affected by a 'toxic' couch and experienced skin problems hence, you could be entitled to allegation reward for your injuries and money lost due to era off con.