More than 1.2 million lights have been recalled across the U.S. and Canada over overheating risks that have been linked to one person's death.
In a notice issued on June 6, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Illinois-based Good Earth Lighting Inc. said the lithium-ion battery in the latter's Rechargeable Integrated Lights may overheat and ignite its plastic housing, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.
The hazard caused one person's death and another person to be treated for smoke inhalation after the overheated product caused a fire in their home. Nine additional reports of overheating were reported to Good Earth Lighting, six of which caused property damages and fires, CPSC said.
One other incident report with no related injuries came from Canada, which recalled 37,800 units while the U.S. sold 1.2 million.
The Chinese- and Cambodian-manufactured lights included in the recall were sold in the U.S. from October 2017 through January at stores like Lowe's, Ace Hardware, Menards and Meijer as well as on the company's website, Amazon.com, Lowes.com and QVC.
The lights were sold in single units for $20 and in a bundle for $35, with colors ranging from white, silver, almond, black and rose gold, CPSC said.
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Good Earth Lighting customers are now being asked to check the model number printed on the white sticker on the back of the light. Those with numbers starting with RE1122, RE1145, RE1362 and RE1250 have been recalled.
If you have a product with the above model number, CPSC asks you to stop using the product immediately and to contact Good Earth Lighting for a free replacement. Contact information can be found here.
The lithium-ion batteries included in the Good Earth Lightning recalled products are intended to provide alternatives in places where there are barriers to installing permanently wired lighting fixtures, the company said.
But despite being an efficient source of power, the batteries are known to unexpectedly cause fires, even leading to explosions in certain cases. Specifically, this has increasingly occurred with e-bike and e-scooter batteries, leading U.S. CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka to say the hazards associated with them reached "crisis level" in 2022.
To protect yourself, the National Fire Protection Association recommends users only purchase lithium-ion batteries that are listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory and labeled accordingly. It also says to only use charging equipment that is compatible with your device, to stop charging once the battery is full and to pay attention to any signs of damage, like the emission of an unusual odor or excessive heat.