Today Target announced a new chemical policy and goals. These new steps build on the Sustainable Product Index announced by the company in 2014 and updated in 2015 and 2016. Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families’ Mind the Store campaign has challenged Target and other retailers to develop comprehensive policies to eliminate and substitute toxic chemicals.
Mike Schade, Mind the Store Campaign Director said: “We congratulate Target on this bold new commitment. The company is showing real leadership on toxic chemicals within the retail industry. We’re very happy to see that Target is setting clear goals with concrete timeframes.
By working with suppliers to remove toxic chemicals like phthalates, perfluorinated chemicals and flame retardants from products, Target will bring safer products into the shopping carts of millions of consumers. A growing body of scientific evidence has linked even low levels of exposure to these chemicals to chronic diseases on the rise.
Including fragrance in its transparency goal is huge. Fragrances can contain harmful chemicals and consumers have no way to find out what they are. Any consumer who wants to know what they’re putting on their body or exposing their kids to will applaud this step.
Target’s new commitment to invest in research into safer alternatives will also further accelerate the development of safer products for all consumers.
We challenge other leading retailers, like Amazon and Costco, to join Target in using their market power to adopt comprehensive safer chemical policies to tackle toxic chemicals that affect their customers’ health.”
For more on Target’s new goals: https://corporate.target.com/article/2017/01/chemical-policy-and-goals
For background on Target’s past commitments on chemicals: https://saferchemicals.org/retailer-report-card/
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The Mind the Store Campaign is coordinated by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, which is challenging major US retailers to adopt policies to identify, restrict, and safely substitute toxic chemicals in common consumer products.