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Phone Cases Recalled After Chemical Burns

At least one user is said to be "scarred for life."

Anyone who wants to keep their iPhone from smashing into uselessness when it’s inevitably dropped has a case for it. But when it comes to the kind of cases that tout fashion over function, it’s no surpise that you can expect cracks or breaks in the protective shells as well. Anyway, that’s where the trouble began for owners of a certain iPhone cover manufactured by a company called MixBin Electronics.

MixBin announced a recall last week on 275,000 cases it manufactured to fit the iPhone models 6, 6S and 7. Made in China, these plastic cases feature glitter suspended in some kind of liquid, and reports have surfaced where users’ cases became cracked and the leaking liquid resulting in something like a chemical burn.

According to a post by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there have been 24 reports worldwide of skin irritation or chemical burns, including 19 in the U.S. But the Telegraph also reported a case where a 9 year-old in the UK was “scarred for life,” when her leaking case caused an iPhone shaped chemical burn on her leg – and this story was published in January of 2016. The phone cases were just recently pulled from shelves in June of 2017, according to the CPSC.

And the shelves in question include Amazon, but also retail outlets that tend to target teen and pre-teen girls, including Forever 21, Wet Seal and Victoria’s Secret. If you see one in the hands of your daughter – or anyone – grab it, but don’t throw it out just yet. According to Buzzfeed, customers who can verify they bought their case from MixBin can get a full refund from the company, as long as they can provide a photo of their accessory. Once the refund claim is approved, the company will then provide the instructions as to how to dispose of it. IEN reached out to the company to try to get some clarity on just what this non-descript burning liquid is inside these phone cases, but MixBin did not respond to our request.

I’m Anna Wells and this is IEN Now.

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