To: Gregg W. Steinhafel, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and Kathryn A. Tesija, Executive Vice President, Merchandising and Supply Chain
Target, Adopt a Safe Cosmetics Policy Now!
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Target should help protect families and everyone against toxins in cosmetics and personal care products by quickly adopting a storewide safe cosmetics policy that includes the following:
1) Creating a list of poisonous chemicals to ban from products in Target's beauty and personal care aisles, and reformulating Target's private label, Up & Up, to exclude any of those ingredients it may contain.
2) Expanding Target's selection of safer products.
3) Providing information to consumers in a transparent and inclusive way about Target's progress in making cosmetic and personal care products safer.
Why is this important?
This time of year, Target can become like a parent's second home. Dropping by to pick up school supplies, clothes and fall sports equipment in addition to regular shopping, a mom or dad can be in and out of the local store so often, she or he should have a personalized parking spot.
Target is many a parent's go-to retailer, because of their friendliness, overall product selection and affordability. And when Target says, “Expect more, pay less,” we generally feel like they mean it.
And, well, parents DO expect more.
That’s why, with all the money and time spent at Target, parents should tell the company exactly what their expectations are when it comes to Back-to-School needs: When our kids throw skin cream, hair gel or lip gloss into the shopping cart, we expect those items to be safe. And because the ingredients that go into cosmetics and personal care products aren't regulated by the federal government, we expect our favorite retailer to assume some responsibility and create safeguards against cosmetic toxins to protect our family's health.
Many personal care products—from baby shampoo and deodorant to lotion and mascara—have been found to contain chemicals we inhale, ingest, and absorb through our skin. And, many of these chemicals may be linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other health problems epidemic in our society.
We have an opportunity to help Target set a storewide safe cosmetics policy that would help us all. In fact, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reports, "Target carries a range of safer alternatives, but lacks a policy to address chemicals of concern in the full range of personal care products it sells. Target is currently determining what criteria would go into a personal care product standard."
Protecting our health from toxic cosmetics can’t wait, so we need to speak up now to push the company forward in the process of removing such products from its shelves.
It is a fact that Target is regularly named to the Ethisphere Institute’s annual “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list, an honor the company is very proud of. It did not get that distinction without a strong sense of corporate responsibility and responsiveness to its customers.
The more people sign on to our letter, the more clearly Target will hear us and the more urgently it will respond to us.