Alarming number of products contain toxic ingredients
JULIA CONLEY for Common Dreams
The findings from the Campaign for Healthier
Solutions and the Ecology Center's Healthy Stuff Lab come as dollar store
chains have expanded across
the U.S. in recent years as consumers have relied more heavily on the chains'
low-priced goods.
Researchers analyzed 226 products purchased in
2021 from five popular discount stores including Dollar Tree, Dollar General,
Five Below, Family Dollar, and 99 Cents Only, concluding that 120 of the
products contained at least one "chemical of concern."
The researchers were especially alarmed by the
presence of toxic metals, endocrine-disruptors, and other harmful chemicals in
products meant for children.
A musical car toy sold at Dollar Tree in Texas had 174,000 parts per million of lead, while a toy pair of lips sold at Dollar General in California was made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a major source of phthalates, which have been linked to damage to reproductive systems and cancers.
Even at low levels, lead and phthalates have
been found to cause harm to children who are exposed to them.
"As a parent, I should be able to buy a
product without expecting to poison my child," José Bravo, national
coordinator at the Campaign for Healthier Solutions, told The
Guardian.
Marketing their products to low-income
families, chains including Dollar Tree and Dollar General have raked in massive
profits in recent years.
Dollar General's profits rose by 4% to $678
million in the second quarter of 2021, and it reported $25.6 billion in revenue
in 2018. Dollar Tree, which bought Family Dollar in 2015, reported $25.5
billion in sales between early 2020 and January 2021 as well as $1.34 billion
in profits.
Out of 7,300 retail stores that opened in 2020
and 2021, 43% of them were
dollar stores.
"With their high profit margins, dollar
stores must do more to ensure that all of these products are safe," said
Bravo in a statement.
Aside from toxins found in children's
products, the researchers found:
- BPA-based
coating inside canned food packaging;
- Cookware
coated with BPA and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)‚ often
called "forever chemicals" because they can accumulate in the
environment over time instead of breaking down;
- Bisphenol
S, which like BPA has been linked to reproductive harm and abnormalities
in brain development, in 100% of receipts at all five retailers; and
- Electronics
containing flame retardants and phthalate plasticizers.
Particularly considering the chains' high
profit margins, the researchers said, the stores must stop exposing families to
toxins instead of ensuring their products contain only safe components.
"There are known substitutes for these
hormone-disrupting chemical hazards," Jeff Gearhart, research director of
Ecology Center Healthy Stuff Lab, told The Guardian. "The fact
that they continue to be used in these low cost products that dollar stores
sell is a real problem."
The groups noted that Dollar Tree announced in
mid-2021 that it would eliminate the use of PVC in its private-brand children's
products and would no longer sell private-brand food and beverage products
containing phthalates.
"The company now needs to expand their
list of restricted chemicals and apply this to a wider scope of products," said Bravo.
"We call on other dollar stores to match these efforts and go even further
to ensure that products are safe for children and families."
"We should not have to wait this long for
dollar stores to adopt safer chemicals policies," he added. "Some
chains like 99 Cents Only stores and Five Below have so far shown little to no
interest in adopting safer chemicals policies, while Dollar Tree is leading the
discount retail sector and Dollar General continues to make slow
progress."
