Massachusetts Man Catches Fire After Applying Sunscreen

Massachusetts Man Catches Fire After Applying Sunscreen

A Massachusetts man suffered second-degree burns from a grill after applying sunscreen aerosol spray on parts of his body.

Brett Sigworth said he applied Banana Boat sunscreen to some parts of his body before walking over to his grill, not expecting it would still be flammable after it was applied on his skin.

The result was second-degree burns to his chest, ears and back, the areas where he applied the sunscreen. Ten days after the incident, Sigworth still suffers the effects.

There were warnings on the bottle of Banana Boat sunscreen that read, "Flammable, don't use near heat, flame or while burning." But nothing about once the sunscreen is applied.

Banana Boat managers said in a statement they were sorry to hear about Sigworth's experience and would begin a prompt investigation. "We are unaware of any prior incidents similar to what Brett has described, but because nothing is more important to us than the safety of our consumers, we are taking this matter very seriously," the statement said.

Dan Dillard, CEO of the Burn Prevention Network, believes the sunscreen might not have fully absorbed into Sigworth's skin and the droplets from the aerosol spray might have still been in the air which resulted to the incident.

"As he approached the flame, the charcoal simply caught the vapor trail and it follows the vapor trail to where the bulk of the substance is, which is on his body," said Dillard.

"I think if people were told this is flammable for two minutes on your skin, people wouldn't use it," Sigworth said.

He doesn't plan to sue, which is too kind of him, but is sharing his story and photos with others to make sure no one else ends up in the hospital after applying sunscreen.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday June 06 2012, 4:56 AM EDT. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0