This product killed my son and others, but you can still buy it at a hardware store

My son Drew Woolverton Wynne was easy to love. The youngest of my three boys, he garnered attention with his quick wit, booming voice, and bright smile. Drew was an entrepreneur who relished building his small coffee business, making me endlessly proud.

But one day in October, I found the county coroner waiting somberly on my doorstep, and my world came crashing down.

While refinishing the floor of his Charleston coffee business with a paint stripper product purchased at Lowe’s, Drew was exposed to deadly levels of methylene chloride, a toxic chemical linked to cancer and death. As little as six ounces can be deadly. Scientists have also linked long-term exposure to liver toxicity and cancer.

Sadly, Drew is just the latest victim in a string of deaths associated with these dangerous products. More than 50 Americans have died from exposure to methylene chloride paint strippers since 1980.

But in December, the Environmental Protection Agency indefinitely delayed a pending ban on these products, despite the fact that 1.3 million consumers are exposed to the chemical every year.

When the federal government fails to tackle issues of concern to Americans like chemical safety, retailers have an opportunity to take meaningful actions to protect us.

To this day, you can walk into home improvement stores and buy the same product that killed Drew — plus numerous others containing the same chemical — despite the fact that safer alternatives are already on the market.

DIY shouldn’t spell danger. That’s why I am asking Lowe’s and other hardware stores to set a clear schedule for phasing out the sale of methylene chloride-based paint strippers within six months or less.

I know Drew would want me to take whatever reasonable action is necessary to spare others from the toxic chemical that cut his life short at 31 — even if that means confronting a national retail chain.

Hardware stores have an opportunity to help protect their customers and earn our trust in the process by banning methylene chloride paint strippers from their shelves. It’s the right business move, and — more importantly — it’s the right thing to do.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.

This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 9:59 AM with the headline "This product killed my son and others, but you can still buy it at a hardware store."