In this economy, sticking to a firm budget can feel impossible, but that’s where dollar stores come in. Discount chains like Dollar Tree and Dollar General have been helping families across the U.S. save money on household essentials, hygiene products, cosmetics, decor, toys, and more. However, a new toxins report has many shoppers on high alert after several popular dollar stores were flagged for selling products riddled with cancer-causing chemicals.
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High amounts of formaldehyde, lead, and other cancer-causing toxins have been detected in personal care, baby, and cleaning items sold at Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General stores across the country, according to a new report from the Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS). Disturbingly, a significant portion of kids' products also had traces of metals and neurotoxins that are known to cause learning and developmental disabilities.
"In nearly every aisle of the dollar store you can still find products containing chemicals that could pose health risks to families and children," CHS national coordinator José Bravo said in a press release.
For a year, experts collected, tested, and screened dollar store products for toxins, such as lead, polyvinyl chloride, and chemicals outlawed in other countries. They analyzed 130 items across personal hygiene, baby, and cleaning aisles.
First, products were scanned for harmful ingredients via the Clearya mobile app, a consumer platform that flags substances "linked to serious health concerns as defined by authoritative chemical hazard lists." It’s free for anyone to use. Simply, launch the app and scan a product’s barcode to retrieve its ingredient profile.
Clearya flagged a total of 46 dollar store products, including:
- A formaldehyde-releasing chemical was found in Baby Shark baby lotion.
- Lead was detected in children’s bracelets, plastic roses, and candy pails.
- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was found in several children’s products.
- Daily moisturizer tested positive for internationally banned cosmetic chemicals.
- Store receipts had traces of bisphenol-S.
"Busy parents shouldn't have to scan the ingredients list of every product they buy to make sure it's safe for our families," Yolanda Brown Alston, Director of Workforce Programs at Harambee House, said in the release. "Dollar stores need to step up on chemical safety and provide quality products that add value to our communities."
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But there’s more: Community-driven testing identified an additional 217 dollar store products of concern. Merchandise purchased by shoppers across the country underwent lead and bisphenol-S color developer screenings at the Ecology Center Lab. The products were also "analyzed for the presence of PVC" using x-ray and infrared machines.
Results show that "both major dollar stores rank poorly on safer chemical policy compared to other retailers," per the report. However, CHS emphasized that "Dollar Tree has shown more willingness to engage with the campaign than Dollar General, which has been unresponsive."
Tracy Gregoire, Healthy Children Project Director for the Learning Disabilities Association of America, stressed that exposure to "phthalates, heavy metals and other neurotoxins" is putting pregnant mothers and children in harm’s way.
"Parents and educators need to know all dollar store products are free of chemicals linked to learning disabilities, ADHD, and developmental disabilities like autism," Gregoire said in the release.
