Why is the Swedish IKEA chest of drawers banned in the USA

Now it is difficult to imagine where we found all sorts of useful things for the house that IKEA stores offer today. For furnishings, dishes, cozy home textiles, and a variety of convenient devices we go here. And IKEA does not fail. And suddenly an unexpected message - in the States, they refuse Ikeev's chests of drawers! What's wrong with this furniture?

What kind of dressers are we talking about

The variety of assortments is one of the many advantages of IKEA. In the catalogs of the company you can find a variety of dressers.

Reference. In the United States, not all modifications of the required furniture have been abandoned. We are talking only about the Malm series, which offers a model with four to six drawers.

The creators of the Malm chest of drawers have tried to make it attractive. And they managed to achieve this. Judge for yourself, here are some characteristics of the furniture:

• Spaciousness. For example, a model with a height of 1 m 23 cm has quite wide (0.8 m) and deep (0.48 m) drawers. It is very convenient to store clothes, bedding or kitchen textiles.
• Laconic design. Such an item will not cause problems when combined with other interior details. Simplicity of forms, clarity of lines, lack of original decorative motifs will fit into both classic and modern design based on minimalism or high-tech style.
• 4 color options. Based on their preferences, buyers can choose from both light (white, oak wood) and dark (brown, black-brown) options.
• Affordable price.

What do Americans blame dressers for?

Comfortable furniture caused an irreparable tragedy. Children have died in several American families. And the chest of drawers was the direct cause of their death.

This is due to the volatility of the collected goods. It turned out that the collected chest of drawers (the model with six drawers weighs almost 24 kg) easily tilts. Moreover, in houses where there are no small children, there are no problems with furniture. After all, chests of drawers do not turn over just like that, by themselves. Everything happens at the moment when a curious and agile child tries to discern what is on the dresser. Having pulled out the drawers a little, the kids use them as steps of the stairs and begin to climb up.
In this situation, the instability of the piece of furniture is manifested. He rolls over, the baby falls, and the chest of drawers presses him down from above.

Reference. In the United States, over 70 children were injured as a result of the overturning of a Malm chest of drawers. In 6 cases, the fall resulted in death.

It was impossible to leave the situation without intervention. In the United States, it was decided to ban furniture that turned out to be dangerous.

Causes of the tragedy

The IKEA company also could not help but react to what happened. Having carefully studied the state of affairs, experts found out that in all cases resulting in injuries, the buyers did not follow the important recommendations for the installation of this series of furniture.

Important! Malm chests of drawers must be fixed to the wall. Fasteners are included in the product package.

In the same time IKEA has decided to recall all dressers sold in the US and Canada. They have been traded for over 30 years, during which time 29 million units of the popular product have been sold.

The owners of Malm models are invited to choose what to do with the purchased goods:

• When returning the buyer receives the funds spent on the purchase of furniture.
• With continued use IKEA offers professional services to ensure that furniture is securely attached to the wall and can be used safely in the future.

Sales in Russia continue

Currently, IKEA has not completely abandoned furniture recognized as dangerous in North America. The company's catalogs still offer this product to Russian buyers.. And not only in Russia, European buyers can also purchase it.

The reason for this state of affairs is difference in Russian, European and American safety standards.

Continuing sales, the company strongly recommends to attach the rear wall of the product to the wall after assembly and warns about the dangers of using loose furniture.

Given the tragedies that have already happened, it makes sense to heed this advice. Or choose another model, of which there are many in the same catalog.