In fear of getting left behind, Walmart the world s largest retailer followed in Procter & Gamble s footsteps last week in deciding to require full disclosure of chemicals used by companies selling cosmetics and cleaning products. Ironically, that list is undisclosed, but if it s anything like the one produced by Procter & Gamble recently to rid the industry of long-used, harmless chemicals like phthalates, triclosan, parabens and formaldehyde (and we are most certain it is), it s yet another unnecessary attack produced by none other than environmental and consumer safety groups plagued by their own agendas. You can read more of ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom s thoughts on P&G s move here.
The decisions are a direct product of organizations like the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics the brainchild of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) seeking a solution to a problem that does not exist in reality, only in the fevered minds of anti-chemical and anti-business activists. In a recent HuffPo op-ed, Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, applauded the retailers latest moves, adding Walmart would not have taken this bold step were it not for the aggressive corporate campaigns and grassroots organizing efforts of nonprofit organizations ¦
And she happens to be right. Rather than fight the ill-informed science, companies like P&G, Walmart, Campbell s and Johnson & Johnson have chosen to cave in to these groups who specialize in bad science and misinformation, rather than fight them.
Dr. Bloom comments, This is the scientific equivalent of three card monte: no one can ever win; remove one chemical just to shut these guys up and they ll be coming for another one next year, or more likely next week.