Lumber Liquidators responds to 60 Minutes report questioning levels of carcinogen in its product

Toano-based Lumber Liquidators is defending itself against a 60 Minutes report that aired Sunday that found that the company’s Chinese-made laminate flooring has toxic amounts of formaldehyde – a-known human carcinogen – that may not meet health and safety standards.

“We comply with applicable regulations regarding our products, including California standards for formaldehyde emissions for composite wood products – the most stringent rules in the country — and take our commitment to safety even further by employing compliance personnel around the world and utilizing the latest in cutting-edge technology to provide our customers with top quality and high value flooring,” the company said in an emailed statement. “These attacks are driven by a small group of short-selling investors who are working together for the sole purpose of making money by lowering our stock price.  They are using any means to try and scare our customers with inaccurate allegations.  Their motives and methods are wrong and we will fight these false attacks on all fronts.”

The segment shows how tests sent to certified labs revealed that Lumber Liquidators’ Chinese-made laminate flooring is not meeting California’s standards for how much formaldehyde composite wood products can emit. A national law adopting California’s formaldehyde composite wood products emission standards also is going into effect this year. In addition to conducting its own test on the product in question, the show’s undercover investigators also traveled to Lumber Liquidators’ Chinese mills where employees admitted to falsely labeling the company’s laminate floor products as complying with California’s formaldehyde emission standards.

“As recently as late 2014, testing by independent third parties confirmed that 100 percent of the randomly selected cores used in the laminates from the three factories that 60 Minutes investigated came back as fully safe and compliant with California standards,” Lumber Liquidators continued in its statement. “While we were unable to witness 60 Minutes’ testing methods and have still yet to see a test using validated methods that has come back as anything but completely safe, out of an abundance of caution, we are now reviewing our processes at these three mills. ”

In its statement, Lumber Liquidators concluded that it stands by its products.

“We stand by every single plank of wood and laminate we sell all around the country and will continue to deliver the best product at the best price to our growing base of valued customers,” the firm said in its statement.

The company said in a conference call last week that it was expecting the report to air. It also said it was facing possible criminal charges brought by federal prosecutors in regards to The Lacey Act, which prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally sold.  The news prompted Lumber Liquidator’s stock to fall more than 25 percent on Feb. 25th to $50.63 a share. On Friday, its stock closed at $51.86 per share.

To view the segment, watch the video below: