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SC Johnson
Sniff, sniff—consumers will shed no tears over SC Johnson's plan to phase out DEP, a common phthalate, from its scented products over the next two years. The company, which manufactures products such as Windex, Glade and Pledge, has been working with suppliers since summer 2008 to eliminate phthalates from the fragrances they supply for SC Johnson brands.
DEP has been included in some of the fragrances that SC Johnson sources for its products, in very small amounts. The company reports that it is the only phthalate used in fragrances in SC Johnson home cleaning and air care products.
SC Johnson Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson points to the company's efforts to be responsive to consumer concerns over both product content and labeling, emphasizing the company's willingness to go beyond current regulatory requirements.
Yet even while discussing phase-out plans, Johnson pooh-poohed concerns over phthalate safety. "The particular phthalate that raised concern–DEP–has been extensively researched and has been deemed safe by various scientific bodies," he said. "But the larger class of substances in the phthalate family has been more hotly debated, and we understand that sometimes whole categories of substances can erroneously be seen as concerning despite individual items being safe. So even though the chemistry was sound, we decided that making sure consumers know they can trust SC Johnson products was well worth the time and cost to change them.”
Multiple chemical sensitivity advocate The Canary Report observes that fragrance companies are under increasing pressure to conform to the new EU REACH standards, which may in fact be one of the motivating factors in this phthalate announcement from SC Johnson. But Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), says SC Johnson is looking at the future in the right way. "Their customers will now be able to make informed choices about what to use in their homes," she noted. Either way, we think this smells like a success.
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Aloha Lisa! Thanks for the shout out to The Canary Report. I see a perfect storm happening in regard to toxic chemical regulation and reform in the US. Although those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have been sounding the alarm for years and years about toxic chemicals in everyday household products, there are now social and economic pressures for companies to not only eliminate toxic chemicals from their products, but also to disclose all ingredients and manufacturing processes. SC Johnson is "looking to the future in the right way" because it's now economically wise for them to do so. There is a perfect storm of the public, government, and international trade all applying pressure to companies to eliminate toxic chemicals from their products. This change in SC Johnson's corporate strategy is not an isolated incident, it's part of a social trend demanding toxic chemical reform. Hallelujah!
Thanks for stopping by, Susie. I agree that voting with our wallets is really starting to hurt companies that try to pull the wool over our eyes. I'm so glad for all those years I spent sticking to my guns and buying more expensive organic, natural and alternative products for my family -- not only did we help build the market and bring the price point down and availability up for those products, but we took money away from companies that insisted they could keep poisoning their own customers. I hope that social and government pressure catches up with economic pressure -- but until then, we'll take what we can get!
Really this is a good post. I appreciate with that. I also use SC johnson's home cleaning products. These are really good as compare to another products. The chairman and CEO of the company Mr.Fisk johnson have done really a good job. His main aim is satisfied the coustomer's goal. He had been done a good search in the market what's the need of coustomer, and what is he really want.
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