Update date: 2010/04/27 06:35

More than a thousand British people experienced skin allergies after purchasing sofas imported from China and subsequently filed a lawsuit. The court ruled in their favor, ordering British importers to pay collective compensation.

According to the ruling by the "London High Court," each of the 1,650 British victims will receive £9,000, equivalent to NT$440,000.

The sofas purchased by these individuals had undergone anti-mold treatment to prevent mildew, but the chemical used, "dimethyl fumarate," had already been banned by the European Union last year. However, Chinese manufacturers continued to use it. Some British consumers reported skin and eye allergies, as well as breathing difficulties after purchasing and using these "toxic sofas" from China. The incident caused widespread panic in the UK, with British media dubbing the batch of Chinese sofas as "toxic sofas."

Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 100427/ 1/ 24m5b. html