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Local Lumber Liquidators Customers Worried After Report Links Flooring To Health Concerns

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Meghan Lopresti's husband, Robert, was putting in the final core boards of their new laminate wood floor Sunday night when her dad called and told her to turn on "60 Minutes."

"This is a nightmare," says Lopresti. "I'm going to wake up tomorrow and this isn't going to be real. Please make this a nightmare."

The report found that core board, like the ones made in China and sold by Lumber Liquidators, contain inordinately high levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Lopresti, the mother of 4-year-old Kaden and 2-year-old Blake, became very concerned.

"I have two small children, another one on the way, and this could quite possibly cause childhood cancer. That's not anything that any parent wants to deal with," Lopresti says.

Tests performed for "60 Minutes" found levels of formaldehyde well above those permitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Click here to see the full "60 Minutes" report.

Overexposure to formaldehyde can cause a range of symptoms, according to CARB's Stanley Young.

"If a consumer does feel some of these symptoms, like wheezing, or runny eyes, weeping eyes, if they're coughing, or if they feel some kind of breathing problem, then it may be related to formaldehyde," Young told "60 Minutes."

Lopresti and others who have contacted KDKA say they bought the floor boards at the Lumber Liquidator store in Robinson Township.

They tell KDKA's Andy Sheehan that when they contact the store management, they were told the product is safe and they would not be reimbursed.

"I said okay. I said, 'Your company is not willing to work with the customers at all?' 'No, we stand by our product,'" said Lopresti.

The store referred KDKA to their corporates offices, which has questioned the testing methods of "60 Minutes" and has defended the wood laminated product in a statement:

"We stand by every single plank of wood and laminate we sell all around the country and will continue to deliver the best product at the best price to our growing base of valued customers."

But all of that isn't reassuring to Lopresti.

"I love it and I love the way that it looks, and if the product is safe, I'm fine with that, but I need proof that's safe for my kids," Lopresti said.

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