To: Gregory D. Wasson, President & CEO
Tell Walgreens: No More Toxic Products! Protect Illinois Families!
Walgreens, be a good neighbor and help protect Illinois families against toxic chemicals commonly found in cosmetics, personal care and other products. Join major retailers like Target and Walmart and “Mind the Store” by creating a robust action plan for how you’ll begin removing from your store shelves items containing chemicals on the Hazardous 100+ list.
Why is this important?
Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain. Its business is all about promoting and supporting health and wellness, including its own families, friends and neighbors in Springfield, Illinois, where the company is based.
In 2013, testing[1] of items bought from Walgreens found, among other things, high levels of lead in decorative beads, and high levels of phthalates in out-door folding chairs. Lead can cause brain damage,[2] while phthalates, an endocrine disruptor, can produce adverse reproductive impacts such as low sperm count, and even cancer.[3]
While Walgreens has taken some steps to address certain environmental and public health risks, such as launching the "Ology™" Brand of Healthy Home Products that is free of phthalates and other risky chemicals, what about all the other products it carries? It has yet to adopt a chemical policy to work with their suppliers to reduce, eliminate, or safely substitute the Hazardous 100+ chemicals identified by the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Coalition.
How can the company in good conscience continue to sell products that could contain dangerous chemicals that could actually cause harm to their clients? Walgreens needs to be a good neighbor and help protect Illinois families... and ALL families! Sign the petition and tell Walgreens: No more toxic products!
[1] http://www.healthystuff.org/retailer-walgreens.php
[2] http://saferchemicals.org/toxic-chemicals/lead.html
[3] http://saferchemicals.org/toxic-chemicals/phthalates.html