Glade Plug In Air Freshners

[Biggles]

This is one of those e-mails that if you don't send it, rest assured someone on your list will suffer for not reading it. The original message was written by a lady whose brother and wife learned a hard lesson this past week.

Their house burnt down.. nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news.


However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal things...curling iron, blow dryer. He kept saying to her, 'No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures'. Then her sister-in-lawremembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bathroom.

The investigator had one of those 'Aha' moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is THIN. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.


Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign


The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them.

[maverick]

I really do wish people would stop giving credence and forwarding or publishing these sorts of e-mail myths and hoaxes - unless you absolutely know something to be true, simply Google the title or subject plus hoax, scam or myth. viz - Glade Plug-Ins Air Fresheners + Hoax and you would get the reality -


Glade Plug-Ins Air Fresheners a Fire Hazard?
Netlore Archive: Email rumor alleges that Glade Plug-Ins air fresheners have been proven to pose a serious fire hazard and should never be used in the home
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: May 2004
Status: False



Email example contributed by J. Ramirez, 25 May 2004:

Subject: Fwd: FW: Fire Hazard? - Plug in air fresheners

My brother and his wife learned a hard lesson this last week. Their house burned down...nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance, so the home will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news. However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire.

The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked my sister-in-law what she had plugged in in the bathroom. She listed the normal things....curling iron, blow dryer. He kept saying to her, "No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures." Then, my sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-in in the bathroom. The investigator had one of those "Aha" moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more home fires started with the plug in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is a THIN plastic. He said in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.

My sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim....and then finally go out. She would walk in a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down, it would come back on. That is a warning sign.

The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many burned down homes.



Comments: (UPDATED) Yet again we are urged to take seriously a dire warning authored by someone who didn't see fit to sign his or her name. How can we trust it when it doesn't offer enough clues to determine if and when the incident described even took place?

As to the general question of whether Glade brand plug-in air fresheners constitute a proven fire hazard, all the available evidence indicates the answer is no.

Manufacturer maintains the product is proven safe

S.C. Johnson, the manufacturer of Glade PlugIn brand air fresheners, has stated that all the devices it currently sells have been thoroughly tested and proven safe when used as directed. And although the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission presided over a voluntary recall of 2.5 million "misassembled" Glade Extra Outlet Scented Oil Air Fresheners in 2002 on grounds that they "could pose a risk of fire," no agency warnings on any make or model of plug-in air fresheners have been issued since.

Anecdotal reports unfounded

As noted in a May 2002 article in the Milwaukee Business Journal, the Consumer Product Safety Commission acknowledged investigating "scores" of complaints pertaining to the safety of plug-in air fresheners around that time but found no cause for further action.

Some fire victims interviewed in TV news reports during the 2002 recall blamed plug-in air fresheners for damage to their homes, but, although a similar product made by a different company was named as the probable cause of one fire, no Glade brand air fresheners were found to be at fault.

Also in 2002, a class action lawsuit was filed alleging that a faulty Glade PlugIn air freshener had ignited, resulting in $200,000 damage to a Chicago home. The suit, which contended that other consumers had suffered similar damages, accused S.C. Johnson of negligence for not warning the public that its products could overheat and cause fires. According to the company, the presiding judge denied class action certification to the case due to lack of merit, and a modest settlement was agreed upon out of court.

Independent tests show no product malfunction

An independent investigation conducted by Underwriters Laboratories, a nonprofit safety certification firm, found that none of the malfunctions reported anecdotally could be duplicated in a laboratory setting, and concluded that fires attributed to Glade product defects were probably the result of faulty home wiring instead.

Internet rumors are false, says Glade manufacturer

Statement from S.C. Johnson:

Company Response to Internet Rumor on Glade PlugIns®
SC Johnson recently learned that there have been postings on the Internet that have claimed that our products were involved in fires. It is important that you know that all of our PlugIns® products are safe and will not cause fires. We know this because PlugIns® products have been sold for more than 15 years and hundreds of millions of the products are being used safely.

Because we are committed to selling safe products, SC Johnson thoroughly investigated these rumors. First, we confirmed that no one had contacted SC Johnson to tell us about these fires or to ask us to investigate them. Additionally, we had a leading fire investigation expert call the fire department representative who is identified in one of the Internet postings. That fireman indicated that he has no evidence that our products had caused any fire.

We suspect this rumor may be associated with a past SC Johnson voluntary recall of one of its air freshener products, a Glade® Extra Outlet Scented Oil product that was sold for a short period before June 1, 2002. After discovering an assembly error in a small number of that product, SC Johnson implemented a voluntary recall and provided extensive information about the product to the U.S. Consumer Safety Commission (CPSC). After revising the manufacturing process and thorough testing for proper assembly, the Glade® PlugIns® Scented Oil Extra Outlet product returned to store shelves on June 3, 2002. SC Johnson has no knowledge of any credible reports of fire related to this product.

We also know that our products do not cause fires because all of our PlugIns® products have been thoroughly tested by Underwriters Laboratories and other independent laboratories and our products meet or exceed safety requirements. SC Johnson continues to work closely with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to investigate allegations involving PlugIns® products.

As a more than 100-year-old, family-owned company, SC Johnson is committed to providing top quality products that can be used safely in homes and we want to reassure you that PlugIns® products can be used with complete confidence.

[Biggles]

Maverick, thanks for your time and effort on this but I did say I wasn`t sure about it being totally factual, but then agian as the Glade guy stated,

"S.C. Johnson, the manufacturer of Glade PlugIn brand air fresheners, has stated that all the devices it currently sells have been thoroughly tested and proven safe when used as directed."

Bit like the spokesperson for White Star Line prior to the Titanic going into use,

[maverick]

No problem - if you are not sure whether something is true or not then just don't peddle and perpetuate myths and scare people. Simples!

[Biggles]

if you are not sure whether something is true or not then just don't peddle and perpetuate myths and scare people. Simples!

True or not, I still actually standby mentioning it. So much so that as a Health and Safety assessment I have removed them from the public area corridors of the 4 business premises my company runs, just in case ? I would add that having been involved with the results of several serious fires I am not prepared to take the risk and see the consequences again.