Court Keeps Case on Ill Effects of Termite Spray

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - A couple claiming a purported termite-killing spray ruined their home and caused them to develop a sensitivity to sundry products and chemicals must keep their case in federal court, a judge ruled.

In a suitthat redefines the word "homesick," Steven and Regina Gucciardi say they've been forced to vacate their suburban Philadelphia home after using the Bonide Termite and Carpenter Ant Control spray, purchased from a Lowe's store in Wilmington, Del..

Shortly after Steven applied the product to the Gucciardis' basement in January 2010, he started experiencing headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and "profuse sweating," according to their suit.

He left the house for a few days and the symptoms abated, he says.

His wife had a similar experience, but she also endured eye irritation and "burning lips" after the product was sprayed on the home, she says.

And every time the couple returned, so did the symptoms, they say.

The Gucciardis say a remediation company thoroughly cleaned the entire house in an effort to make the place habitable, but was unsuccessful.

"Despite plaintiffs' best efforts to purge the house of the effects of the application of defendant's product, the residence remains contaminated in a manner that triggers painful symptoms when plaintiffs re-enter the property," the suit says.

But, the Gucciardis say, it gets worse.

Exposure to the Bodine spray "has caused them to develop a sensitivity to many other products and chemicals, known and unknown, that have caused them to alter their lifestyle dramatically," their suit says.

The case was removed from state court in February 2012.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter ruled this week that it shouldn't go back.

The Gucciardis wanted the case remanded to state court, arguing that one of the defendants hadn't consented to the removal.

But Buckwalter found otherwise in a written opinion filed Tuesday, keeping the case in federal court.

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