According to Good Morning America and several other media communications, a Massachusetts man suffered second-degree burns from a grill after applying sunscreen aerosol spray on parts of his body.
Brett Sigworth applied Banana Boat sunscreen to his body before walking over to his grill, not knowing it would still be flammable after it was on his skin. Mr. Sigworth reported that, “I went into complete panic mode and screamed . . . I’ve never experienced pain like that in my life.”
The result was second-degree burns to his chest, ear and back, the only areas where he applied the sunscreen. Days after the incident, Mr. Sigworth is still showing the effects of the incident. The warnings on the bottle of Banana Boat sunscreen read, “Flammable, don’t use near heat, flame or while burning.” However, the warning does not mention anything about once it is already applied.
Banana Boat officials said in a statement they were sorry to hear about Mr. Sigworth’s experience and would begin a prompt investigation. “We are unaware of any prior incidents similar to what Brett has described, but because nothing is more important to us than the safety of our consumers, we are taking this matter very seriously,” the statement said.
Dan Dillard, CEO of the Burn Prevention Network, believes the sunscreen might not have fully absorbed into Mr. Sigworth’s skin and the droplets from the aerosol spray might have still been in the air. “As he approached the flame, the charcoal simply caught the vapor trail and it follows the vapor trail to where the bulk of the substance is, which is on his body,” said Dillard.
Mr. Sigworth said, “I think if people were told this is flammable for two minutes on your skin, people wouldn’t use it.” He also stated, “It was so scary and I just wouldn’t want to see it happen to anybody else.”
If you or someone you know has been harmed by a product, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.