A big win for consumer health today as the announcement from three major US retailers Home Depot, Lowe's, and Sherwin Williams comes in. These retailers will be banning the sale of paint strippers that contain the toxic chemicals methylene chloride and N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) by the end of 2018!
Health authorities believe these paint strippers have claimed dozens of lives. EPA scientists have said methylene chloride a known cancer causing carcinogenic poses an "unreasonable risk." NMP can affect reproductive organs in men and women and also fetus development when pregnant women are exposed. But products containing these chemicals have been sold to consumers for years. Victims, usually young men, have died after doing things like stripping paint off a car or bath tub for example.
Those families have been pushing for action not only at the EPA but at the retail level.
The three companies planning to stop the sale of these products Lowe's said it wants to "bring safer, affordable options to customers." Home Depot said it wants to improve health and environmental safety for products. Sherwin Williams said it also has "effective alternatives" that do not contain methylene chloride. There was a lot of concern the EPA would not uphold its planned ban on the chemical. Activists said they are cautiously optimistic at this point that it will still happen. However, that will take much longer, and the families of the victims are not willing to wait and watch more people die.What can you do?
Protect your family, community, and environment with purchase power! Only buy and use paint removal products that do not contain toxic chemicals. Consumers can also check the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Website which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency creates toxicity profiles for every chemical and consumers can use them to determine whether a chemical is hazardous.Safe alternatives for paint stripping are available. One company using new innovative water technology to replace toxic chemicals in their paint removal products is EZ Strip. EZ Strip removal products break the molecular bond between coating and surface without using harmful chemicals. EZ Strip removal solutions are skin safe, low VOC, and water soluble. Meaning they clean up with just water and biodegrade so they don't hang around in the environment.
Visit The EZ Strip Website and find safe removal solutions today!
