Tile Spray Recalled

For the Himmelman family of Evergreen, Colo., a simple home improvement turned into a family crisis.

"I was in here sealing the grout lines of the shower. The product here is just a product you spray directly on," Brian Himmelman explains to CBS News Correspondent Rick Sallinger.

He was using a product called "Tile Perfect Stand 'n Seal." It's made by Roanoke Companies and sold exclusively by Home Depot stores around the country.

Instead of having to seal tile grout with a brush, Stand 'n Seal allows you to do it standing up with a spray.

"On the can itself it says it evaporates harmlessly," Brian says.

The window and door of the bathroom were open when Brian's 12-year-old son, Tyler, came in for a few minutes.

"My throat kept hurting and my lungs hurt," Tyler says. "It felt like I burnt my lungs. It just fried them."

He ended up in the hospital for five days. Dr. Jeff Schmidt of St. Luke's Hospital, diagnosed the problem as pneumonitis: inflamed lungs.

"I asked the father if Tyler had been exposed to any toxic fumes and the father kind of smiled and said well as a matter of fact his problems started about an hour after helping me in the bathroom,"
Dr. Schmidt recalls.

Tyler was eventually released, but continues to use oxygen frequently.

If this was the only incident it would be serious enough, but there have been a number of other cases around the country of people becoming ill after using this product, Sallinger reports.

We went to the Internet and asked Stand 'n seal users if they had any problems. Responses came from all over. An Orlando, Fla. firefighter told us he was hospitalized for three days. A San Antonio contractor said he went into convulsions and a woman in South Florida had chills and burning.

The label on the can says the spray "evaporates harmlessly" and the small print cautions "avoid breathing vapors." The larger danger warning makes no reference to that.

Since problems were reported to the company this new label was added to the cap advising use of adequate ventilation.

The Roanoke Companies are working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to address the issue and have voluntarily recalled 16 batches because a contract manufacturer removed an odor from the product that would discourage overuse.

As for Tyler Himmelman, he's missing school. Doctors cannot say if he will fully recover.