Media Center
Reporters: Please contact Steve Taylor, Program Director at (802) 251-0203 ext. 703 or staylor@comingcleaninc.org with inquiries or interview requests.
Coming Clean coordinates a broad range of projects and campaigns for market reform, safe chemical policy, clean energy solutions, and environmental justice. Please contact us with media inquiries or to request interviews with spokespeople on these issues or any of the following projects:
- The Campaign for Healthier Solutions
- Environmental Justice Health Alliance
- Hazardous Chemical Facilities
- Farmworker Health and Justice
- The Workgroup for Safer Markets
- Federal Chemical Policy Reform
- Health Threats of Emerging Technologies
Press Releases:
April 5, 2021
Discount stores often sell products with hazardous chemicals. Low-income shoppers deserve better.
In the latest Retailer Report Card on chemical management policies, Dollar Tree and Dollar General improved their grades, but 99 Cents Only Stores once again received an F. If discount retailers care at all about the health and well-being of the communities they operate in, or the environmental racism that they are perpetuating, they should reallocate resources and start cleaning up their supply chains immediately. Read More
March 30, 2021
Retailer Report Card Ranks Dollar Stores
The 2020 report card on safer chemicals in consumer products was released by the Mind the Store campaign and the Campaign for Healthier Solutions looking at how 50 companies – including dollar store chains – rank when it comes to chemical safety in products and packaging. Read More
March 23, 2021
We're Hiring! Manager of Communications and Media
The Manager of Communications and Media leads Coming Clean’s communications and media operations, and is responsible for developing and implementing an effective communications and media strategy to advance the mission, vision, and initiatives of Coming Clean and EJHA. Read More
March 2, 2021
Court Upholds Ban on Phthalate Chemicals in Toys for Now
In 2016, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, NRDC, and Breast Cancer Prevention Partners sued the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to force the agency to address toxic phthalate chemcials in children's products. On March 1, a federal appeals court left in place the resulting ban on several phthalates by rejecting most of the arguments made by the chemical industry opposing the ban, but also found flaws in the agency’s rulemaking process. It gave the agency an opportunity to fix those errors. Read More
October 20, 2020
Dollar Tree Thrives During Pandemic, But Is Still Not Removing Toxic Chemicals Fast Enough
When the Campaign for Healthier Solutions tested a variety of products sold at Dollar Tree and other discount retailers, it found that 81 percent tested contained at least one hazardous chemical. Even microwave popcorn and canned foods sold at dollar stores were found to contain deeply concerning levels of harmful chemicals. A number of states have likewise documented high levels of harmful chemicals in Dollar Tree products. Prenatal exposure to some of these chemicals can result in lower IQ levels, as well as learning or behavioral problems. Yet there is actually no need to use many toxic chemicals because there are safe, affordable alternatives. Read More
June 11, 2020
Release: Dollar Tree Must Do More To Eliminate Hazardous Chemicals From Its Stores, Environmental Justice Advocates Say
The Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS), which is dedicated to getting toxic products out of dollar stores and helping them stock local, sustainably-produced healthy foods, is deeply concerned Dollar Tree did not express during its annual meeting of shareholders Thursday a commitment to going beyond its previously-stated goal of removing 17 highly-hazardous chemicals from the products it sells by 2020. Read More
June 3, 2020
Coming Clean Stands in Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement, Denounces Police Brutality and White Supremacy
Coming Clean stands in solidarity with those protesting the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery and the culture of white supremacy and systemic racism that has caused the senseless loss of lives of countless other Black men, women and even children in our country at the hands of people and institutions that regularly escape being held accountable for their actions.
May 29, 2020
Release: Dollar General Reaffirms New Chemicals Policy, But More Action is Needed, Advocates Say
The Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS), which is dedicated to getting toxic products out of dollar stores and helping them stock local, sustainably-produced healthy foods, is pleased Dollar General reaffirmed its commitment to removing eight toxic chemicals from its private label cleaning and beauty/personal care products during its annual meeting of shareholders this week, and that company CEO Todd Vasos expressed an interest in expanding the availability of fresh foods and purchasing locally-grown produce. Read More
April 29, 2020
Release: Affected Communities Urge The Environmental Protection Agency To End The Free Pass It Is Giving Polluters
More than 150 affected communities, environmental justice organizations and other groups are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to rescind or replace its policy allowing companies to stop reporting how much they pollute under the guise of COVID-19. Read More
April 16, 2020
Release: Groups Sue EPA Over Free Pass for Polluters Amid Pandemic
Coming Clean, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance and many other partners have joined forces with the National Resources Defense Council to sue the EPA in order to protect people from pollution during the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
April 1, 2020
Advisory: Groups Petition EPA Over Reckless Non-Enforcement Policy
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Coming Clean, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance, and The Climate Justice Alliance call on the EPA to protect public health and overburdened communities from pollution during the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full press release and petition on NRDC's website. Read More
March 27, 2020
Release: Numerous Groups Denounce EPA’s “Free Pass” for Polluters
Environmental justice advocates, scientists, public health experts, affected community members and others joined forces Friday to declare their outrage that the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws under cover of the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
March 13, 2020
Release: Court Approves Settlement Requiring EPA Rules on Most Dangerous Chemical Spills
New York, N.Y. – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a consent decree between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a coalition of community and environmental organizations, including the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), Clean Water Action, and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Read More
February 24, 2020
Release: A Day Before White House Public Hearing on Proposed Environmental Rollbacks, A Louisiana Couple Tells Their Story About Living with Cumulative Toxic Pollution
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, Coming Clean and the Center for American Progress released a new video highlighting the story of Christine and Delma Bennett, longtime residents of Mossville, Louisiana, who have suffered from years of exposure to toxic pollution and environmental racism. Read More
February 11, 2020
Difusión: 99 Cents Only Stores Se Quedan Cortos en Comparación con Otras Tiendas de Dólar en La Eliminación Gradual de Sustancias Químicas Dañinas, dicen Manifestantes Afuera de la Sede de la Empresa el día de Hoy
Se reunieron manifestantes afuera de la sede de 99 Cents Only Stores hoy en Commerce, California, exigiendo que la cadena de tiendas de descuentos deje de vender productos con sustancias químicas toxicas ligadas a anomalías congénitas, el cáncer, las discapacidades del aprendizaje y otras enfermedades serias. Las comunidades en donde operan 99 Cents Only Stores son primordialmente personas de color y de bajos ingresos, mismos que ya se encuentran expuestos en un nivel desproporcional a daños ambientales y sufren de disparidades económicas y de la salud. Read More
February 11, 2020
Release: 99 Cents Only Stores Lagging Behind Other Dollar Stores in Phasing Out Harmful Chemicals, Say Protesters Outside Company HQ Today
Protesters gathered outside 99 Cents Only Stores headquarters today in Commerce, California, demanding that the discount chain stop selling products with toxic chemicals linked to birth defects, cancer, learning disabilities, and other serious illnesses. The communities served by 99 Cents Only Stores are predominantly people of color and low-income, already disproportionately
exposed to environmental harm and suffering from economic and health disparities. Read More
November 21, 2019
Release: EPA Touts Weakened Public Safety Measures Established Following West, TX Disaster
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced action to weaken the Risk Management Plan program (RMP) for chemical facilities that pose a risk of catastrophic explosion or poison gas release. The RMP program is a set of safety measures that seek to prevent and mitigate chemical disasters at over 12,000 high-risk industrial and commercial facilities across the nation. EPA estimates that over 177 million residents face daily risk of a chemical disaster emanating from one or more of these facilities. Read More
November 19, 2019
Release: Dollar General Develops New Toxic Chemical Policy, Other Top Retailers Making Major Chemical Safety Advances
A new report reveals that many of North America’s largest retail companies are embracing chemical safety policies to help protect consumers from toxic chemicals in products. In the largest-ever analysis of its kind, 63% of evaluated companies improved over the past year alone. The study also found dramatic improvement in retailer chemical action between 2016 to 2019, with the average grade moving from D+ to B- (for the eleven retailers evaluated since 2016). This consumer protection progress comes at a time when the Trump Administration has weakened or delayed action on hazardous chemicals that can cause cancer, reproductive harm, and other serious illnesses.
The report also reveals for the first time that Dollar General has launched a new safer chemicals policy banning eight toxic chemicals in private-label beauty, personal care, and household cleaning products over the next three years. Read More
October 17, 2019
Release: New Report Finds Arsenic, Lead and Other Toxic Contaminants in 95% of Baby Foods Tested
In a new investigation released today, Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) and its partner organizations report that 95% of baby foods tested contain one or more toxic chemicals, including lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. One-quarter of foods tested contain all four toxic chemicals tested by the lab, all of which are heavy metals that can affect brain development. Read More
October 17, 2019
Difusión: Nuevo Informe Encuentra Arsénico, Plomo y otros Contaminantes Tóxicos En el 95% de las Comidas para Bebés Analizadas
En una nueva investigación publicada hoy, Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) y sus organizaciones asociadas reportan que el 95% de las comidas para bebés analizadas contienen uno o más químicos tóxicos, incluyendo plomo, arsénico, mercurio, y cadmio. Un cuarto de las comidas analizadas contienen los cuatro químicos estudiados por el laboratorio, los cuales son metales pesados que pueden afectar el desarrollo del cerebro. Read More
View the entire press release archive here.
Reports and Resources from Coming Clean:
- Life at the Fenceline, a chemical disaster zone map, and demographic analysis.
- Who's in Danger? A demographic analysis report of chemical disaster vulnerability zones.
- When the Wind Blows: Tracking Toxic Chemicals in Gas Fields and Local Communities.
- Warning Signs: Toxic Air Pollution Identified at Oil and Gas Sites.
- General Resources
- The Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals.