Ranking Retailers On Products They Sell With Toxic Chemicals

Are Your Favorite Retailers Taking Action on Toxics?

The report card on toxic chemicals in consumer products is in & the Mind The Store Campaign found one-third of 30 major U.S. retailers are leaders, but two-thirds are seriously lagging behind. When you walk into a trusted store, you expect the products on the shelves to be safe. But toxic chemicals are hiding in everyday products all around us like the cleaning & removal products we buy at the local hardware store for use in the home, shop, or garage. Here is how some of your favorite stops to shop ranked on the toxic product scale.

           

Doctors Are Sounding the Alarm

A growing body of science has linked exposure to toxic chemicals to health problems and diseases such as cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, and reproductive disorders. Although these chemicals come from multiple sources, many are present in the products we buy. 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 various sources can contribute. 

Calling All Change-Makers

It's time retailers put the interests of our families' health above the special interests of chemical corporations. Big retailers can innovate to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals from the products they carry and safeguard our health. As a consumer, you have ENORMOUS power. Big retailers care what YOU think. By using your purchase power only invest in products you know to be safe. Research items your not sure about before buying. Spending a little more time looking before buying can make your home a much safer place for you and your family.

Safer Removal Options Are Out There

There are companies doing their part to make safer removal options for consumers in some of the most hazardous sections of the hardware store. Paint strippers, glue removers and graffiti cleaners are some of the toughest products to find truly safe alternatives for. That's why EZ Strip has developed a whole line of strippers and removers that tackle these tough removal jobs and more with skin safe low VOC formulas that clean up with just water. For more info on EZ Strip products visit EZstrip.ca 

To get a the full retailers report card and learn more about your favorite shop stop follow this link Retailer Report Card   

Want to do more? Call on the stores where you shop to take the lead on making sure the products they sell are safe. Raise your voice! Tell Big Retailers: It’s time to eliminate toxic chemicals. 

TAKE ACTION

Public Paint Stripping Hazards: City to Foot Bills for Children's Chemical Burns

The city of Lewiston, Idaho has decided to pay the medical bills for children from two families who suffered chemical burns last month at Pioneer Park when city employees neglected to supervise toxic paint stripper that was applied to graffiti.

According to police reports and tort claims filed by Katie Giolitti and Jennifer Kaufman the incident happened near the drinking fountain at the Pioneer Park restrooms. Kaufman and her husband, Joe Kaufman (the city's storm water engineer), had brought their children and Giolitti's children to the park for a play date when the children needed to use the restroom.

While Kaufman was helping another child get a drink in the fountain, one of her 1-year-old twin daughters slipped and fell in the paint stripper, coating her upper leg with the chemical. The Giolittis' 6-year-old daughter also stepped in the chemical and began to complain that her foot burned. "There was a soapy substance on the cement near the water fountain with an A-frame type sign over it," Kaufman wrote in her claim. "There was nothing indicating it was a hazardous substance."

Kaufman scooped up her daughter and led the other child to the nearby fountain to rinse them off while someone called 911. She realized that the skin on her arm also was burning from coming into contact with the paint stripper while carrying her daughter.

She said the insurance company indicated that her claim was initially denied because city parks are "at your own risk" facilities, but she rejected that reasoning because caustic substances aren't something a reasonable person would expect to be present at a city park. City Manager Jim Bennett said "I determined that in this instance, it was the best action the city could take to pay the medical expenses for these families."

Parks and Recreation Director Tim Barker said the seasonal employees involved in the incident had tried other methods of removing the graffiti before resorting to the powerful paint stripper. They applied a thick layer to the concrete, placed the sandwich-style barricade over it, and were instructed to supervise the site, he said. But the employees left to clean nearby parks department vehicles, according to the incident report. For full article follow link http://lmtribune.com/northwest/city-to-foot-bills-for-children-s-chemical-burns/article_010168bc-dddc-5f80-9974-2eebf8d45893.html

Using toxic caustic paint stripping products in public places poses high risk to the public and city workers have other non toxic paint removal options available to them. Using a non toxic paint stripper like EZ Strip Paint & Varnish Stripper or EZ Strip All Purpose Remover to remove graffiti allows for an effective removal with no hazards to the public or the environment. EZ Strip paint removal products are skin safe, low VOC, biodegradable, and clean up with just water. So you get all the power you need to strip paint without the high health hazard risks.

Visit EZstrip.ca for more product details and where to buy today!