Lumber Liquidators’ stock plunged Monday as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says people exposed to certain types of the company’s laminate flooring were three times more likely to get cancer than the agency previously predicted.
The CDC said that in its original report it had used an incorrect value for ceiling height. It said that resulted in health risks calculated using airborne concentration elements about three times lower than they should have been.
It now estimates the risk of cancer at six to 30 cases per 100,000 people. It previously estimated two to nine cases per 100,000 people.
The agency said that its recommendations will likely stay the same — that people take steps to reduce exposure.
Lumber Liquidators said in a statement Monday that it has strengthened its “quality assurance procedures,” such as testing sample products.
The company stopped selling Chinese-made laminate floors in May, a few months after CBS news show “60 Minutes” reported that those floors contain high levels of the carcinogen formaldehyde. Lumber Liquidators, based in Toano, Virginia, also began providing customers with free air quality tests.
Earlier this month, it was announced in a separate case that Lumber Liquidators would pay more than $13 million for illegally importing hardwood flooring, after the company pleaded guilty to environmental crimes last year. The company pleaded guilty to environmental crimes in October.
Shares of Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. slid $2.83, or 20 percent, to $11.38 in morning trading Monday. Its shares have fallen 83 percent over the past year.
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Our earlier story, from Reuters, posted at 6:48 a.m.
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc.’s shares were set to tumble on Monday after a revised federal agency report showed people exposed to some types of the company’s laminate flooring were three times more likely to get cancer than previously estimated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Feb. 18 it estimated the risk of cancer was 6-30 cases per 100,000 people, compared with the 2-9 cases it had estimated in a Feb. 10 report. The CDC said the revised results were preliminary.
Lumber Liquidators’ shares were set to open more than 15 percent lower on Monday, which would be the stock’s biggest intraday percentage drop in six months.
The CDC said it had used an incorrect value to calculate ceiling height, which meant its estimates of the airborne concentration of cancer-causing formaldehyde were about three times lower than they should have been.
CBS “60 Minutes” reported on Sunday it was alerted to the possibility that scientists had not converted feet to meters in some calculations.
Lumber Liquidators was not available for comment outside regular business hours. It had supported the recommendations of the CDC’s previous report on the safety of flooring made in China between 2012 and 2014.
The company’s’ shares and sales have been in a tailspin since March last year when CBS “60 Minutes” reported the retailer’s laminates from China contained excessive levels of formaldehyde.
Up to Friday’s close of $14.21, Lumber Liquidators’ shares had risen 17.5 percent since the CDC’s initial report. But they are still down 79 percent since the company had in late February last year warned of the CBS report.
Lumber Liquidators shares plunge after CDC revises cancer report
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