In April, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Brookdale International Systems Inc., a division of DuPont Canada, announced that it was recalling nearly 300,000 EVAC-U8 and EVAC+ emergency escape smoke hoods after tests showed the products did not work properly, potentially exposing users to carbon monoxide and other airborne toxins.

The single use, personal air filtration systems were marketed as being effective for escaping fires and other smoke emergencies, promising customers 15 minutes of protection from smoke and other toxins. Each unit was sold with either a five- or eight-year shelf-life warranty. In announcing the recall, however, Brookdale offered only to refund the prorated value left on the warranty.

"The shelf-life of a defective product should not be a deciding factor in issuing refunds," said one of the attorneys, who is seeking class-action status for every customer who purchased the devices. "Whether one of these hoods was purchased five days or five years ago doesn't change the fact that using it can leave trusting consumers in a dangerous predicament. Customers should not be penalized because they were lucky enough not to discover first-hand that these products do not work as advertised" said one of the handling attorneys.

In 2002, Brookdale offered full refunds on more than 27,000 hoods purchased by customers who mistakenly believed they would be effective against tear gas or chemical weapons. Four years later, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a "Suspend Use" advisory on March 8, 2006. The EVAC- U8 and EVAC+ hoods were sold on Web sites, by safety products retailers, in catalogs and at travel stores for $75 to $150.

The lawsuit is open to any person that purchased a recalled EVAC- U8 and EVAC+ hoods manfactured by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.