Are your favorite stores working to keep toxic chemicals out of products and packaging? Or are they failing to protect customers? The third annual Who’s Minding the Store? report card, which ranks 40 top retailers on their actions on toxic chemicals, will tell you!
The average grade of all 40 retailers was a D+. And almost half of them earned Fs for failing to address the chemical safety of the products they sell. Those include Trader Joe’s, Ulta Beauty and Nordstrom. In some cases, entire industries lag: from McDonalds to Starbucks, every single fast food chain analyzed failed to take any action on chemicals that might contaminate their food.
Now more than ever, we need companies to step up and tackle toxic chemicals. Cancer cases and infertility rates are soaring—and scientists agree that exposure to toxic chemicals from consumer products can contribute. Plus, chemical industry insiders are running the EPA’s chemical safety office, and they aren’t doing enough to regulate dangerous chemicals.
Indifference from the Trump administration won’t keep us from fixing this problem. Consumers like you are calling on the stores where we shop to take the lead on making sure the products they sell us are safe. And our efforts are working!
Some companies, including Apple, Target, Walmart and Ikea, earned top marks. Many retailers made big strides in response to customer outreach and are stepping up to get toxic chemicals off store shelves. This year, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Walmart and others announced they would stop selling paint strippers containing a dangerous chemical linked to more than 60 deaths that the Trump administration has so far refused to ban. Retailers like Amazon, CVS, Kroger, Rite Aid and Walgreens all stepped up to reduce the use of phthalates, a class of toxic hormone disruptors, in their store-brand products, including as beauty, personal care and cleaning products.
No matter where they shop, people shouldn’t have to worry about dangerous toxic chemical exposure when buying food and basic household necessities. Join us in sending a message to the companies that are failing to protect their customers. With one click, you can send a message to the CEOs of all 19 retailers that earned Fs. For our health, let’s make them raise the grade in 2019.