Posted on 06/23/2005 7:22:17 AM PDT by Terabitten
Vests Nation’s Largest Maker of Body Armor Warns of Potential for Premature Failure of Body Armor Containing Zylon
Central Lake, Michigan, June 22, 2005 - In a decision to protect the lives of public safety officers, Second Chance Body Armor is recommending the immediate replacement of any of its bullet-resistant vests containing Zylon® fiber.
The country’s largest manufacturer of body armor has issued two safety notices to police departments across the nation after new research from one of the nation’s leading polymer chemists has shown that protective vests constructed only partially from Zylon may fail to perform and result in serious injury or death. The safety notices, which are available at www.secondchance.com, urge all officers who own and wear Tri-Flex vests or Ultima and Ultimax vests with Performance Pacs to replace these vests immediately with products that do not contain Zylon.
The safety notices will affect approximately 58,000 Tri-Flex vests and an additional 40,000 Ultima and Ultimax vests with Performance Pacs. Until the affected vests are replaced, officers should continue to wear their vests.
Second Chance, which is currently going through a reorganization in the bankruptcy court, plans to petition the bankruptcy court for a procedure for police departments and safety officers to present claims that may result from this new information. Additionally, Second Chance has contacted the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program to request that this federally funded program take immediate action to help with financing replacement vests.
“While Second Chance has not received any reports of field failures of the products in question, we felt it was our obligation to report these new research findings immediately,” said Matt Davis, vice president of sales and marketing. “The safety and well-being of all the officers who wear our body armor is of primary importance to Second Chance and we strongly encourage all officers to replace ballistic vests that contain Zylon as quickly as possible.
“The problems associated with Zylon are not specific to Second Chance – these problems are industry-wide and demand an industry-wide solution. We have approached the National Institute of Justice, which is involved in an ongoing investigation of Zylon-based body armor, with our concerns. Additionally, we are aggressively pursuing litigation against the fiber’s manufacturer, Toyobo Co., Ltd., in an effort to recover funds that can be used to provide a remedy to affected police departments and safety officers.”
Zylon first debuted in the body armor industry in the late 1990s as a lighter and more wearable alternative to aramid fabrics such as Kevlar®. After extensive testing by both Second Chance and Toyobo, Second Chance introduced its first products using Zylon in 1998.
In September 2003, ongoing testing of used vests containing only Zylon showed degradation problems with the fiber that potentially shortened the wearable life of the vest. Based on these tests, Second Chance was the first manufacturer to recall vests made entirely of Zylon – a decision echoed by its top competitors within the next two years. Products that contain a blend of Zylon and other protective fibers were not implicated in this research and remained on the market.
The recall, which affected more than 130,000 vests, pushed Second Chance into bankruptcy proceedings in October 2004 and prompted numerous lawsuits. Additionally, the National Institute of Justice launched an industry-wide investigation in November 2003 into the vulnerability of Zylon-based bullet-resistant vests.
In the course of this investigation, Second Chance’s legal counsel has retained a leading polymer chemist, formerly of Dow Chemical, to analyze the Zylon fiber used to construct the vests to see if he could identify the cause of premature aging. These test results showed the presence of inordinately high levels of residual process acids – up to eight times the desired level –in the Zylon manufactured by Toyobo. These process acids can lead to a sudden and dramatic loss of tensile strength, even under normal conditions.
This process, which is called “hydrolytic degradation,” potentially reduces the efficacy of the protective nature of the clothing. After carefully reviewing these results with the Department of Justice, Second Chance decided to issue safety notices on its remaining products that contain Zylon.
“These test results lead us to believe that even products that contain relatively low percentages of Zylon by weight may fail to perform as expected,” Davis said. “In our line of business, any potential failure is unacceptable, and we moved immediately to alert our customers – and others within our industry – of this problem.
“In 2003, Second Chance took the lead on the Zylon issue because it was the right thing to do. As new and more detailed information has become available, we are once again taking the lead and speaking out against the use of Zylon in body armor.”
About Second Chance Body Armor
Based in Central Lake, Michigan, Second Chance Body Armor is the nation’s largest manufacturer of modern, wearable, concealable body armor. The Company offers a broad line of corrections armor, tactical armor, special-purpose armor and other ballistic plates, shields and helmets designed to protect and preserve lives. For more information, go to www.secondchance.com.
FYI.
Zylon update ping
Our entire office has these vests and we are currently working on getting new vests.
Working on getting three replaced for our department
Good deal. You know how to get in touch with me if y'all need any help getting replacements.
Thankfully I was aware of this before I got hired so I avoided SC products. They were no longer selling anything with Zylon as far as I know but I didn't want a product from a company that most likely will go under.
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