Child Paint and Varnish Injury Lawyer
Because young children are smaller than adults and in critical and delicate stages of development, they are even more susceptible than adults to suffering permanent disability as a result of exposure to toxic substances. Children may be exposed to such substances through someone’s negligence or through a defective product and may sustain severe, lifelong injuries, including learning problems, attention deficit disorders, and other mental disabilities.
Certain child injuries can be especially devastating when a child is harmed in a sensitive stage of development. If your child has sustained injuries from exposure to paint or varnish as a result of a defective product or someone’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation from those responsible. Contact child paint and varnish injury lawyer Jeffrey Killino at 877-875-2927 to learn more about your legal options.
Lead Based Paints
Today, most paints used in children’s products are lead-free and non-toxic. Many older products do contain at least some traces of lead-based paint, however. In addition, some manufacturers still manufacture products—including children’s toys—that are coated with lead-based paint. The hazards posed by this dangerous substance include the following:
- Brain damage
- Future learning disabilities
- Loss of intellectual capabilities
- Changes in behavior toward others
- Attention deficit disorder
- Organ failure
- Death
Many of the injuries sustained by children as a result of exposure to lead-based paint occur after a child has sucked on or chewed an item coated with such paint. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has warned parents of the tendency of children—particularly those between two and three years of age—to put nearly anything they come into contact with into their mouths and to take precautions against allowing children access to substances or objects that pose dangers when put in the mouth or ingested.
Varnish Hazards
Though less known to most parents than the hazards of lead-based paint, the hazards of varnished products—or of the application of varnish while children are present—may also result in injury to a child as a result of someone’s negligence or a defective product. The application of varnish on products intended for use by children, such as cribs or other children’s furniture, may result in the poisoning of a child who chews or sucks on a crib or furniture edge, for example. If your child has been exposed to a product that was manufactured with a toxic varnish coating, you may be entitled to compensation for injuries sustained by your child as a result.
Legal Liability for Children’s Paint and Varnish Injuries
An individual whose negligence results in the exposure of a child to lead paint or varnish may be found liable for the injuries sustained by the child as a result. Manufacturers of products that contain lead paint or varnish may also be found liable for injuries sustained by children as a result of exposure to or use of such products if the product is determined to be defective and the product’s defect is found to have been a cause of the child’s injuries.
Defective Products
The manufacturer of a product that contains a defect in the product’s manufacture or design or as a result of the manufacturer’s or seller’s failure to warn of the product’s dangers may be held liable in a product liability action for injuries sustained by a child as a result of the child’s use of or exposure to the product. This liability extends not only to the product’s manufacturer but to anyone in the chain of the product’s distribution.
Thus, the manufacturer, distributor, and seller of a crib or child’s toy that is coated with lead-based paint or varnish may be found liable for the injuries sustained by a child through the child’s use of the crib or toy if the product’s defect is determined to have been a cause of the child’s injuries.
Premises Liability
Children may be exposed to and injured by exposure to lead paint or varnish as a result of coming into contact with lead-based paint or varnish covered furniture or woodwork in a building owned by someone other than the children’s parents. The owner of such premises may be found liable for injuries sustained by a child as a result of such exposure under the law of premises liability.
Negligence
An individual in whose care a child has been entrusted may be found liable for injuries sustained by the child from exposure to lead-based paint or varnish if the child’s exposure and resultant injuries are determined to have been caused by the individual’s negligence. Such negligence can occur in any number of situations.
If an individual in whose care a child has been entrusted knows or reasonably should have known of the presence of lead paint or varnish in a product or item and allows a child access to the product or item, the individual’s negligence in allowing the child to gain such access may be found to have been a cause of the child’s resultant injuries.
Harmful Exposure to Wet Varnish or Varnish Fumes
Though many cases of child varnish poisoning result from a child’s ingestion of varnish (through chewing or sucking on an item coated in varnish), varnish injuries may also occur as a result of the inhalation of varnish fumes or the contact of a child’s skin with wet varnish.
The dangers of varnish use are so significant that the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH)requires employers of employees who apply varnish in their work to wear protective gloves and masks to protect them against these dangers. Thus, when an adult in whose care a child has been entrusted knows or has reason to know of the dangers of varnish inhalation or skin contact with wet varnish and fails to take precautions against a child’s inhalation of varnish fumes or contact with wet varnish, that adult may be found liable in an action in negligence for the child’s resulting injuries.
Contact Us
If your child has suffered illness or injury from exposure to lead-based paint or varnish, contact child paint and varnish injury lawyer Jeffrey Killino at 877-875-2927 for experienced and knowledgeable assistance with your case.
