Over ten years ago, POGO issued one of the greatest investigative reports in modern history--EPA Finally Does The Right Thing: Public Safety Prevails Over Industry's Interests. (You might laugh at my assertion, but there are "best of" lists for movies, sports teams, and songs, so I thought I would start lobbying for my work.)
POGO's report detailed the growing number of fires and explosions caused by aerosol products (including bug bombs, a.k.a. "foggers"), and the EPA's acquiescence to the aerosol industry when prompted by EPA scientists to change warning labels. Eventually the EPA did the right thing, improving warning labels by providing more information, better directions, and graphic symbols to ensure bug bomb users were aware of the risks posed by aerosol products. POGO was content with the EPA's actions, but we had hoped they would apply to all aerosol products. At the time, POGO was able to document hundreds of reports by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on fires and explosions caused by many different types of aerosol products, not just bug bombs.
Now the issue is heating up again. Reuters recently reported a case in which a man blew up his apartment while spraying for bugs. The concern has always been that the propellants (including propane, butane, and isobutane) used to eject the other ingredients are very dangerous. POGO interviewed a former NYC fire official who had collected numerous reports of fires and explosions caused by aerosol products and had testified in cases in which the aerosol users were on trial for arson. There were a number of instances when bug bomb users were accused of dumping flammable substances in their homes and lighting them on fire.
Although I have not followed every aerosol fire and explosion case since 1998 or the results of the EPA's actions to regulate bug bombs, aerosol fires and explosions are still a problem deserving of more attention. Heck, even Discovery's MythBusters confirmed the myth when its crew blew up a house a few years ago.
-- Scott Amey
P.S. Thanks to Peter Stockton, POGO's Senior Investigator, for his assistance and support on this topic through the years.
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