H.B. Fuller Case Study
(Based on fact, but dates, and some facts, have been changed)
The NBC report: On August 18 Dateline NBC, a national news program, aired a segment on the abuse of solvent adhesives by street children in Central America, specifically Guatemala and Honduras. The children who inhale these solvents are known as resistoleros, after the name of Fuller’s line of adhesives, Resistol.
The segment quoted Bruce Harris from Covenant House, an international children’s service agency, accusing H.B. Fuller of contributing to the abuse of our product by failing to mix the product with oil of mustard, which he claims would act as a deterrent to abuse. The program also claimed that Fuller is still shipping glue in “industrial sizes” after promising to discontinue sales in countries where there are high levels of abuse, and that the company continued to manufacture glue both in Guatemala and the Honduras.
The NBC report depicted homeless street children buying bags of solvent and inhaling it, with the implication that the solvent was a Fuller product. This was the second NBC report on the issue in a year, and customers and the public at large have become increasingly alarmed about Fuller’s alleged involvement.
The facts: Fuller discontinued sales of solvent-based adhesives through distributors in Guatemala and Honduras a year and a half ago because of widespread abuse there by children. We still distribute water-based solvents, which are not subject to inhalant abuse. Other adhesive companies have not withdrawn their products and it is likely that adhesives shown being abused on the TV report were manufactured by other companies. The name Resistol is used generically in these countries to describe all adhesives.
Fuller does still manufacture a wide range of products in these countries, employing over 200 people. It was never our intention to close these plants. We have also continued to sell products to industrial customers, but on a quota system that allows us to monitor their proper use. We no longer sell our solvent-based products through retail distributors.
The company recognizes the terrible problem of substance abuse by street children in these countries. We believe that the roots of the problem are economic and social, that we are neither the cause or the solution to the problem. Nevertheless we contributed over $70,000 last year to child service agencies in these countries. Covenant House was the recipient of a grant in a previous year but we decided not to fund them this year.
As far as the demand that we add oil of mustard to our products, there is absolutely no evidence that adding this product would provide any kind of deterrence. A wide variety of agencies, including the World Health Organization, The International Institute for Inhalant Abuse, and Street Kids International all agree with this position. Adding oil of mustard is a simplistic, feel-good measure, that would only help our image, but would not help the kids. In the meantime, we would be hurting many small shoemakers and other cottage workers who use solvents legitimately.
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