Plastic products that contain hazardous chemicals linked with serious health problems are starting to be phased out at dollar stores.
According to a May 24, 2019 article in National Geographic, one of the largest dollar store chains in the U.S., Dollar Tree, has agreed to start eliminating substances such as lead, bisphenol A (BPA), and phthalates in products ranging from pencil cases to bathmats to plastic headbands.
Experts quoted in the article noted that low-income and minority communities, already exposed to pollutants more than other groups, are frequent shoppers at dollar stores.
“It’s a big concern that segments of the population, people who we generally consider more at risk of health problems, have less access to products with fewer of these chemicals in them,” said Carmen Messerlian, research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who has led research suggesting that phthalate exposure may be linked with miscarriage risk.
Phthalate exposure has been linked with reproductive problems, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and neurodevelopmental issues in children.
Read the National Geographic article: Dollar stores moving to pull dangerous plastics from shelves