It's now a year since Watchdog first told the story of the Chinese leather sofas which were causing agonising skin reactions in thousands of people. We were the first to identify the cause; sachets of a highly dangerous chemical, dimethyl fumarate or DMF, put in the sofas in China to stop mould growing.
In the UK the sofas were sold in three main stores: Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsleys.
What we didn't know at the time was that the sachets were causing injuries in several other countries. Affected sofas were sold across Europe, with problems reported in Finland, Poland, Sweden and especially France.
After 38,000 sofas were recalled there, French TV network France2 sent undercover reporters to the one of the Chinese manufacturers, Eurosofa, who'd been linked to the sofas. The reporters secretly filmed a meeting with representatives of Eurosofa. At first the company said that the sofas were nothing to do with them but then they admitted that they had in fact used sachets of dimethyl fumarate and had stopped when the scale of the problems the chemical had caused in the UK became clear.
Major breakthrough
Watchdog's been on top of this story from the very start and now there's been a major breakthrough. The European Commission is banning any products containing DMF from entering Europe. The new law, which comes into force in May, means all shops that have sold affected items, will have to issue a full recall. UK authorities have yet to decide exactly how that will work here.
EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva is behind the new law. She told us that "From 1 May 2009 DMF [will] not have any place in UK homes, in European homes. Well done, good job, Watchdog."
Admitted liability
But what about the thousands of people in the UK who've already suffered agonising skin reactions? In the coming weeks they'll find out if they've won compensation from the high street stores who sold them their sofas.
The lawyer behind the court action, Richard Langton, is confident they will because Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsleys have all admitted liability.
He says that "When you look at the two thousand people entitled to compensation, it looks like the total compensation package will be somewhere in the region of £5m to £10m."
Horrific reaction
One of the claimants in the High Court case is Sam Markey. In 2006 she bought an affected sofa from Land of Leather and soon developed a horrific reaction.
She's hoping that she will be compensated for the suffering, pain and depression she says was caused by a chemical in a sofa that should never have been there.
When we first reported on this story a year ago some of these stores refused to accept what we'd told them - that sofas they'd sold were dangerous. If they'd taken action sooner, maybe they wouldn't now face such massive payouts. There could still be more twists to come in what's become one of the most bizarre stories that Watchdog has ever covered.
Watchdog spoke to some of the companies involved.
Argos said:
"We have already gone on record as saying that we have accepted legal responsibility to our customers. Since this issue first surfaced, we have conducted detailed and extensive investigations and have worked, and will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to make sure that the health and safety of our customers is protected. Once the European Union legislation has been published, we will cooperate with the appropriate authorities as required."
Deloitte, the Administrators to Land of Leather said:
"The Administrators have been made aware of the Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF) issue and are seeking professional advice, including legal input, on this complex matter.
"In respect of the DMF issue and in all other aspects of Land of Leather customer concerns the administrators are seeking to be as helpful as possible, consistent with their over-riding duties to creditors as a whole.
"It should be borne in mind however that unlimited funds to provide replacement products are not available. The options available to deal with problem products that can be identified as relating to the DMF issue are being explored and customer concerns will be addressed as sensitively as possible on the basis of the limited resources available in the administration.
"The branch where customers placed their order, or alternatively the call centre, should be the first point of contact for concerned customers - the call centre number is 0800 496 0868. There is a dedicated helpline available for customers that the call centre determine need further support."
Walmsleys said:
"Thankfully only a very small proportion of our customers have been affected but where we are satisfied that DMF has affected customers they have already been offered refunds or replacement products. In circumstances where our customers are entitled to further compensation some payments have already been made and we are working with the other retailers, their insurers and the claimants to create a system to ensure remaining payments are made as quickly as possible.
"We have already withdrawn product containing DMF from sale and we will continue to work closely with the trading standards authorities to ensure we continue to comply with UK and EU legislation."
Click here to read our last sofa report.
Sofas - new legislation
In the UK the sofas were sold in three main stores: Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsleys.
What we didn't know at the time was that the sachets were causing injuries in several other countries. Affected sofas were sold across Europe, with problems reported in Finland, Poland, Sweden and especially France.
After 38,000 sofas were recalled there, French TV network France2 sent undercover reporters to the one of the Chinese manufacturers, Eurosofa, who'd been linked to the sofas. The reporters secretly filmed a meeting with representatives of Eurosofa. At first the company said that the sofas were nothing to do with them but then they admitted that they had in fact used sachets of dimethyl fumarate and had stopped when the scale of the problems the chemical had caused in the UK became clear.
Major breakthrough
Watchdog's been on top of this story from the very start and now there's been a major breakthrough. The European Commission is banning any products containing DMF from entering Europe. The new law, which comes into force in May, means all shops that have sold affected items, will have to issue a full recall. UK authorities have yet to decide exactly how that will work here.
EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva is behind the new law. She told us that "From 1 May 2009 DMF [will] not have any place in UK homes, in European homes. Well done, good job, Watchdog."
Admitted liability
But what about the thousands of people in the UK who've already suffered agonising skin reactions? In the coming weeks they'll find out if they've won compensation from the high street stores who sold them their sofas.
The lawyer behind the court action, Richard Langton, is confident they will because Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsleys have all admitted liability.
He says that "When you look at the two thousand people entitled to compensation, it looks like the total compensation package will be somewhere in the region of £5m to £10m."
Horrific reaction
One of the claimants in the High Court case is Sam Markey. In 2006 she bought an affected sofa from Land of Leather and soon developed a horrific reaction.
She's hoping that she will be compensated for the suffering, pain and depression she says was caused by a chemical in a sofa that should never have been there.
When we first reported on this story a year ago some of these stores refused to accept what we'd told them - that sofas they'd sold were dangerous. If they'd taken action sooner, maybe they wouldn't now face such massive payouts. There could still be more twists to come in what's become one of the most bizarre stories that Watchdog has ever covered.
Watchdog spoke to some of the companies involved.
Argos said:
"We have already gone on record as saying that we have accepted legal responsibility to our customers. Since this issue first surfaced, we have conducted detailed and extensive investigations and have worked, and will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to make sure that the health and safety of our customers is protected. Once the European Union legislation has been published, we will cooperate with the appropriate authorities as required."
Deloitte, the Administrators to Land of Leather said:
"The Administrators have been made aware of the Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF) issue and are seeking professional advice, including legal input, on this complex matter.
"In respect of the DMF issue and in all other aspects of Land of Leather customer concerns the administrators are seeking to be as helpful as possible, consistent with their over-riding duties to creditors as a whole.
"It should be borne in mind however that unlimited funds to provide replacement products are not available. The options available to deal with problem products that can be identified as relating to the DMF issue are being explored and customer concerns will be addressed as sensitively as possible on the basis of the limited resources available in the administration.
"The branch where customers placed their order, or alternatively the call centre, should be the first point of contact for concerned customers - the call centre number is 0800 496 0868. There is a dedicated helpline available for customers that the call centre determine need further support."
Walmsleys said:
"Thankfully only a very small proportion of our customers have been affected but where we are satisfied that DMF has affected customers they have already been offered refunds or replacement products. In circumstances where our customers are entitled to further compensation some payments have already been made and we are working with the other retailers, their insurers and the claimants to create a system to ensure remaining payments are made as quickly as possible.
"We have already withdrawn product containing DMF from sale and we will continue to work closely with the trading standards authorities to ensure we continue to comply with UK and EU legislation."
Click here to read our last sofa report.
Sofas - new legislation