machinist, who soon died from their exposures, medical records show. The agency sent investigators before the end of 2005 to the homes of two victims, in Arizona and Iowa, and tested at least one can of Stand ’n Seal. The tests give a basic indication of what was in the product: mostly butyle acetate, an industrial solvent, and hydrocarbons, chemical compounds based on crude oil. But the agency’s laboratory does not have the equipment needed to identify the specific chemicals present, or what effect they might have on humans, said Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the commission. “There are a lot of things the agency should have,” Ms. Vallese said. As a result of its limited testing capacity, the agency took Roanoke’s word that it had fixed the problem. But in fact, the company had not, and it re- supplied Home Depot stores nationwide with 50,000 cans of Stand ’n Seal that still contained the chemical implicated in the earlier illnesses. The only change was an additive to give the spray a stronger odor to signal to consumers that they should use the product in a ventilated area. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has never publicly acknowledged that the threat remained. Its recall notice said that any can bought after June 2005 was safe. Similar Problems Dr. Friedel, a veteran physician, has a jovial air about him that quickly turns to agitation, then anger, when he discusses Stand ’n Seal. He knew nothing about the earlier trouble with the product when he went to the Home Depot. “At least there should have been a sign,” Dr. Friedel said of his Home Depot store in East Hanover, N.J., referring to the initial recall. “Without it, the consumer has no idea what they are getting into.” Dr. Jack Goldshlack, a pulmonologist who is still treating Dr. Friedel, said tests conducted after Dr. Friedel showed up at the hospital showed abnormal lung inflammation that limited his ability to get oxygen into his blood stream. After his release from the hospital, Dr. Friedel spent months taking oxygen-tank breaks in his office, as his lungs slowly recovered. Tyler Himmelman began coughing, struggling to breathe and then vomiting after his exposure. Doctors said about 80 percent of the surface area of his lungs had been damaged. Interviews with a dozen other people turned up stories that are strikingly similar. Andrew Lamer, a 24-year-old home contractor from Zeeland, Mich., who like Dr. Friedel bought one of those 50,000 cans used to restock the shelves, said he ended up in a hospital intensive care unit after using a can of Stand ’n Seal he bought in November 2005, four months after the recall. Amy Paddock, 45, of Fridley, Minn., said she passed out in her car, after having felt ill and pulling to the side of the road, shortly after using the product in April 2006, and was also hospitalized. Eileen Moreno, 50, an office manager from Fullerton, Calf., went to the hospital on Thanksgiving Day in 2006 — more than a year after the recall — after using Stand ’n Seal in her home. “I just couldn’t breathe, I could not even move,” Ms. Moreno said in a recent interview. Her can had a lot number that showed it had been among the original batches that were recalled in August 2005 — but it remained on the shelf at Home Depot, as the retailer and Roanoke, which shared responsibility to remove these cans, had not completed the job. Growing Evidence The Consumer Product Safety Commission received several notices that the hazard associated with Stand ’n Seal continued, even after the recall. Sandra Himmelman, whose son was injured before the recall, called the agency after she was startled to find one of the “recalled” cans still for sale at her local Home Depot, agency records show. “How could it still be for sale?” she said she asked. Rick Ericksen, 59, a Mississippi state geologist, called the agency to report “uncontrollable shivering spasms that convulsed my entire body” after using Stand ’n Seal, as well as a “tremendous headache, nausea and a dry cough that wouldn’t stop,” agency records how. An agency official, reviewing the complaint, noted in the report that the lot number on the can Mr. Ericksen had used in September 2005 “was not on the list of recalled cans.” But Mr. Ericksen, Ms. Himmelman and others with similar complaints said they never received a response from the commission. Roanoke had growing evidence that the problem persisted, documents show, including continued reports that went to the emergency call center about illnesses and a growing list of lawsuits based on injuries, many of them filed by consumers who used cans that were not among those recalled. But it was not until March 2007, 18 months after the original recall, that Home Depot and Roanoke acknowledged the apparent source of the continuing problem. The 50,000 cans used to restock the shelves in 2005, the companies conceded, “have been identified as containing the same potentially harmful formulation as the recalled batches,” a Home Depot statement said. The hazard was finally eliminated this spring, as Home Depot removed Stand ’n Seal from the market entirely and posted a notice on its corporate Web site offering a refund to anyone who, after the recall, had bought one of the 50,000 cans.