Retailer Therapy

Retailer Therapy Ranking retailers on their commitment to personal care product and cosmetics safety Table of Contents Retailers & Cosmetics Safety 4 How We Ranked the Retailers 8 Acknowledgements Retailer Ranking 10 Whole Foods Market 12 CVS Caremark 16 Written by Heather Sarantis, M.S., Commonweal, with Lisa Archer and Janet Nudelman, Breast Cancer Fund; and Walgreens 20 Cindy Luppi, Clean Water Action. Comments from Rich Liroff, Investor Environmental Health Network, Shannon Target 22 Coughlin, Breast Cancer Fund and Jamie Silberberger, Women’s Voices for the Earth greatly improved the content of Walmart 24 this report. Design by Heather Sarantis. Kroger 26 Costco Wholesale 28 The following organizations conducted in-store shopper surveys in support of the Campaign’s research: Macy’s 30 Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Breast Cancer Fund, Clean Water Action, Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Dollar Stores 32 Connecticut, Commonweal, Ecology Center, Health Legacy Coalition, Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Oregon Environmental Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility Florida, Women for a Healthy Environment and Conclusion 33 Women’s Voices for the Earth. Outreach and volunteer coordination done by Sarada Tangirala, Breast Cancer Fund and Cindy Luppi, Clean Water Action. What Consumers Can Do 34 This report was funded in part with grants from The Bauman Foundation, The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Appendix A: Methodology 35 Foundation, the Cedar Tree Foundation, the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, Johnson Family Foundation and the Passport Foundation. Appendix B: Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to product reformulation 36 Any errors in the report are the responsibility of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Copyright December 2012 by Appendix C: Chemicals of concern highlighted in the shoppers survey 37 Breast Cancer Fund and Commonweal. and throughout this report About the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Appendix D: Products shoppers highlighted in their surveys 40 Endnotes 47 The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a broad-based national coalition of more than 170 nonprofit health, environmental, environmental justice, worker, women’s, student, consumer and faith organizations. Our key partners include: Clean Water Action, the Breast Cancer Fund, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, and Women’s Voices for the Earth. The Breast Cancer Fund, a national 501(c)(3) organization focused on preventing breast cancer by identifying and eliminating the environmental links to the disease, serves as national coordinator of the Campaign. The Campaign’s mission is to protect the health of consumers, workers and the environment by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive harm andVisit other www.SafeCosmetics.org adverse health impacts from for cosmeticsmore information. and personal care products. Retailer Therapy Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Retailers & Cosmetics Safety How Did the Retailers Do? The Case for Retailer Leadership • Whole Foods Market The $50 billion personal care product industry (Whole Foods) is by far the leader, with proactive policies in place in the United States is largely unregulated. Retailers need to improve their policies on to screen out more than 400 chemicals of concern from its premium products. It offers an The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does the safety of the cosmetics products they sell, extensive range of safer alternatives and communicates its safety commitments and progress not have the authority to test cosmetics including private label brands, in order to • clearly to the public. Macy’s product ingredients before they are marketed, protect consumer health and reduce exposure to unlike other products1 it regulates like hazardous chemicals. At the other end of the spectrum is , which stated that government regulations are pharmaceuticals. As a result, products such adequate to address cosmetics safety and that it trusted its vendors to ensure the products the as baby shampoo, lipstick, lotions, and nail There is a compelling case to be made that company sells are safe. The company has a very limited selection of safer alternatives, with products often contain chemicals linked to increasing access to safer products will benefit • CVSsome Caremark of its stores not offering any alternatives at all. cancer, birth defects, infertility and other retailers’ bottom line. Market analysts at chronic diseases. Packaged Facts forecast that the U.S. consumer (CVS) leads the conventional retailers, having a publicly available policy on its market for natural and organic skincare, hair cosmetics safety standards, a wide range of safer alternatives in many of its stores and a policy Retailers that sell these products become the de care, and makeup, which during 2005 to 2010 • Walgreensof phasing out chemicals of concern from its CVS brand baby products. facto gatekeepers of safety: Do the companies boomed 61% to2 $7.7 billion, could top $11 allow products with harmful chemicals to billion by 2016. According to a 2011 Organic does not have a publicly available policy that addresses personal care product be sold in their stores? Do they promote and Monitor report, “Consumers are turning to safety, and safer alternatives are not consistently available in its stores. The company did recently launch its own line of safer products, which to date includes two baby bath products expand the sales of safer alternatives? And do natural personal care products because3 of health they help their customers understand their concerns about synthetic chemicals.” and a few adult shampoos and conditioners. These products are screened to ensure they do stores’ commitment to health and safety? • Walmartnot contain certain chemicals of concern. Another area that needs attention is safer This report looks at the policies and practices of products for people of color. A 2012 Packaged has invested considerably in setting up systems to identify chemicals of concern some of the largest retailers in the United States Facts report found that during 2010 the ethnic in products it sells, but has not made progress in translating that knowledge into not selling to begin to answer these questions. Through health and beauty care products market “posted personal care products that contain potentially harmful chemicals. It also lacks a commitment direct communication with the companies, growth of nearly 13%, and during 2011 the • Targetto do so in the future. Additionally, shoppers found a limited selection of safer alternatives. searches of their websites and corporate market continued to advance4 at a healthy pace responsibility reports, and in-store shopper to reach almost $3 billion.” The report goes on carries a range of safer alternatives, but lacks a policy to address chemicals of concern surveys across the country, the Campaign for to note that, “As of 2012, market drivers include in the full range of personal care products it sells. Target is currently determining what criteria Safe Cosmetics (the Campaign) provides a a desire for more natural products.” This is • Costcowould go Wholesale into a personal care product standard. snapshot in time of retailers’ progress toward especially important as products marketed to meeting the growing consumer demand for women of color often contain some of the most (Costco) has eliminated the use of several chemicals in its signature brand, safer cosmetics. (See Appendix A for the full toxic chemicals used by the cosmetics industry. but has done little else to screen the other cosmetics products it sells. It also does not have a methodology.) policy to address chemicals of concern in its full range of personal care products and offers The market for safer alternatives weathered the • Krogerlimited to no safer alternatives. hardest years of5 the recession and continues to grow stronger. Retailers should jump on board touts its commitment to selling safer products, but shoppers had mixed experiences, the safer personal care product bandwagon with some not finding safer alternatives and one finding a wide range but indicating that this because consumers are demanding it. section was a new addition in her local store. Overall the company lacks a comprehensive policy to address personal care product safety. 4 Retailer Therapy Campaign for Safe Cosmetics 5 The Power of Retailers How Can Retailers Distinguish A Note on Retailer Truly Safer Alternatives? However, as this report details, some retailers Responsibility There is a rich history of retailers using their are working to answer the question of how to purchasing power to effect positive market raise the safety bar for the products they sell. Products that are free of chemicals linked to The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recognizes change. In 1999 Home Depot agreed to The bottom line is that it is in retailers’ best cancer, birth defects, developmental harm, that the retailers represented in this report are Rainforest Action Network’s request to phase interest to begin the process of requesting that reproductive health problems and other diverse and multifaceted. Our analysis is based out the purchase of old-growth wood. Major their vendors eliminate hazardous ingredients. health concerns are the healthier, safer choice. solely on the companies’ practices related to brands throughout the forest products industry If vendors are unwilling to comply, the retailers Unfortunately, distinguishing which products fit personal care products. We know that retailers soon followed

Load more