Warnings about health hazard from Chinese leather upholstery

Furniture Today reports that an investigation is being started into health hazards from Chinese Leather upholstery.

Investigation of Chinese Leather Health Hazard

I see that online neither Leathercraft nor H&M designates the country of origin of their leathers, but is it possible to find out? I just received about 40 leather samples from Leathercraft and the country of origin is no where to be found. Are Leathercraft's Portfolio II Program leathers all Chinese? We know most of H&M's T&C are.

Upon reading the article, it appears similar complaints have been ongoing for several years in European countries where Chinese leather has caused skin burns and respiratory ailments.

When will these American manufacturers wise up? Or is the almighty dollar more important than the public's health?

And what about the poor Chinese worker handling these chemicals everyday? Are we such an out of sight, out of mind nation that we don't care what happens to them?

I don't have anything against lawyers, being one and all, but the outfit behind the bulletin ("America's Watchdog") seems to me like it's a lawyer-sponsored site fishing for possible class action lawsuits or certain individual claims carrying large potential damage awards. Their phone number brings up a large number of sites that seem to fish for legal leads, and their address appears to be a UPS Store.

I'm not disagreeing with the general conception that if you have skin or respiratory problems after sitting on a leather couch, it's quite possible that your couch has toxic chemicals in the leather or on its surface. The background story from the U.K. can be read here.

Thanks for the link to the BBC website. Do you know if BBC WATCHDOG is a lawyer driven group also? Reading your link, it's even worse than I expected. That is a LONG list of sofas, and the ailments reported are extremely alarming.

In, A Decade Of Dangerous Foods From China and Arsenic and Apple Juice, it has become increasingly evident that not only are Chinese products flooding America, but that they are poisoning Americans.

Granted, we don't eat our leather sofas, but if just sitting on them can cause health concerns, then why take the risk when other options exist?

Many years ago there was a leather that was called 'China Cow' that almost every U.S. maker of leather furniture purchased as it was inexpensive, and looked good. They even had a little brand that said "China Cow" on the back of the hides. One day, it was discovered that active carcinogens were on the leathers (only could be absorbed into the skin when sweaty) and overnight...China Cow disappeared from the market.

Tanning leather is a nasty business. Its full of unpleasant chemicals and uses tons of water. All USA tanneries of any size were shut down by the EPA and OSHA in 2008 (there are a few small-scale specialty tanneries out there that remain, however - such as one in Chicago that does the NFL footballs, etc). Part of that was due to pollution controls and partly due to worker health. Now, all leather is imported, and some comes from China, some from Argentina, other from Italy, Germany, New Zealand, etc....virtually all over the world. The moral discussion of such is probably outside the context of this forum, but at the end of the day its all imported.

I have not been away of any leather from China causing issues since the demise of China Cow. Like in most things, there are good tanneries and not so good ones. I have sold a LOT of Chinese leathers over the years and am very sensitive to the issue, but so far no problems or issues either through my store or any buzz from the makers of the furniture. You have choices in leather, and its pretty much agreed upon in the trade that the best leathers come out of Europe. However those are also the most costly, Like the old adage goes, "You pays your money, you takes your choice!" If a high quality hide is critical, be prepared to pay more....

Duane, your are right about leather and hides in general being a nasty business. I live in an area where hunters leave their deer hides in 55 gallon drums during hunting season and the stench is beyond words. Also, the local mobile slaughterer leaves his cow and other hides outside in similar drums. Nothing brings on the gag reflex quicker.