Rooto Corp Systematically Faulty Packaging Results in Severe Burns to Children and Adults Howell Michigan

Product: 64oz bottle of Rooto professional drain cleaner, sulfuric acid-based

Location: Shop-n-Save in Benzonia Michigan, parking lot

Date: June 30th, roughly 2:30pm

Injuries: See included pictures

Narrative of Events:

A bottle of drain cleaner was placed on the bottom shelf of a shopping cart, roughly 6 inches above the ground. After leaving the store, directly outside the door leading to the parking lot, the bottle of drain cleaner fell roughly 6 inches off the bottom shelf of the shopping cart. This minor fall compromised the integrity of the seal, the cap, and the plastic bag in which the bottle was contained, causing the acid to pour out of the bottle and all over the right foot of 5 year old Katherine. I raced her back into the store to use the sink found at the bottle return and rinsed her foot immediately, and then with the help of store management I packed her foot in baking soda.

While carrying her, the liquid dripped over my right leg. Both Katherine and I suffered chemical burns, both of Katherine’s shoes had melted, and a pair of my pants had melted.

The events of this narrative can be confirmed by store management, store security cameras, witnesses to the events, as well as the included pictures of the injuries.

Please let me first say that I am fully aware this product is hazardous and that special precautions must be taken in order to properly handle or use it. I’ve been using drain cleaners for years, and am entirely aware of the caustic nature of concentrated acids. It is not the product, itself, with which I am concerned, but rather than packaging in which it is sold.

Despite the perception of secure packaging, it only took a small bump to open not just the seal, but also the cap and even the bag in which the bottle was secured. That a 6 inch fall should result in total failure in the packaging of such a hazardous product is completely unacceptable.

That there has been an apparent lack of quality testing in this packaging is not only dangerous to consumers, but also to employees of retail outlets and manufacturing facilities, making this is an entirely reckless failure in consumer and workplace safety.