The federal government
has raised the spectre of
another health scare over
home insulation, this one
centred on Southwestern
Ontario.
Justice Minister Rob
Nicholson yesterday
announced a “cease-and
desist” order against home
insulator RetroFoam Canada,
based in Breslau near
Waterloo, and its area
dealers.
“It’s come to our attention
that part of the insulation
contained urea formaldehyde,”
Nicholson said.
Urea formaldehyde foam
insulation (UFFI) was banned
in Canada in 1980 because it
was thought to be a potential
health threat.
The federal government
figures RetroFoam has
been installed in about 700
homes.
Enerliv, the Canadian
distributor of the insulation,
has been ordered to “to stop
all sale, advertisement and
further installations of the
product and to call back any
unused product.”
Paul Weigel of Breslau,
who owns the rights to
distribute RetroFoam in
Canada, didn’t respond to an
interview request.
But a RetroFoam Canada
statement e-mailed from
Breslau to Sun Media yesterday
said the federal government
is overreacting.
“The product is safe,” the
release said. “The insulation
is stable and does not