WeWork removes more than 2,000 phone booths over formaldehyde hazard

Michael Vi/iStock(NEW YORK) -- After dealing with corporate drama for weeks that saw the withdrawing of its IPO and the ousting of its CEO, coworking startup WeWork is facing a new set of issues after up to 2,300 phone booths were flagged to have "elevated levels of formaldehyde."

“WeWork is taking a number of phone booths out of service at some of our U.S. and Canada locations due to potentially elevated levels of formaldehyde caused by the manufacturer," the company told ABC News in a statement. "The safety and well-being of our members is our top priority, and we are working to remedy this situation as quickly as possible."

Formaldehyde is commonly used in wood construction and manufacturing but exposure to elevated levels can cause eye, skin, nose and throat irritation. High levels of exposure may cause some types of cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

It just keeps getting better: .@WeWork phone booths in my office tainted with formaldehyde pic.twitter.com/2pp6OImg8j

— gregdale (@gregdale) October 14, 2019

The company added that they performed an analysis and conducted a series of tests on a sampling of phone booths after "a member informed us of odor and eye irritation."

"Upon receiving results late last week, we began to take all potentially impacted phone booths out of service," the statement added.

WeWork said it identified approximately 1,600 phone booths in their U.S. and Canada locations that may be impacted, and "out of an abundance of caution" are also taking an additional 700 phone booths out of service while they conduct more testing.

Bad month for wework. Now they’re removing a bunch of phone booths in our building b/c of formaldehyde concerns. Over under on us getting our security deposit back when we move out later this month? pic.twitter.com/OZa81QUOdR

— Rachel Z. Kaplowitz (@ZisserZappy) October 14, 2019

In a letter sent to members obtained by ABC News, WeWork said that its Community Team could help members identify which phone booths were available for use and also "provide alternative quiet spaces for phone calls, including booking conference rooms and opening unoccupied offices for your use."

The latest road bump for the coworking startup comes after a rocky month of corporate drama.

After first announcing it was delaying its initial public offering, and then undergoing a change in senior leadership that included co-founder Adam Neumann stepping down as CEO, WeWork announced late last month that it was filing a request to withdraw its initial public offering filing.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.