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May 7, 2025Community-driven testing again reveals chemicals of concern in dollar store products
The Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS) today published the results of a year-long effort to collect, test, and screen dollar store products for chemicals of concern. Highlighted products of concern purchased at Dollar Tree/Family Dollar and/or Dollar General include: “Baby Shark” baby lotion containing a formaldehyde-releasing chemical; daily moisturizer containing a chemical banned in European cosmetics; light-up children’s bracelets, plastic roses and mini candy pails containing lead; children’s products made with polyvinyl chloride or PVC, and receipts containing bisphenol-S.
Published the week of Mother’s Day, “Product Testing for the People: Pitfalls, Persistence, and Progress in Transforming Dollar Stores” provides safe shopping tips for families and actionable recommendations for Dollar Tree and Dollar General to expand, improve, and enforce their chemical policies. The report also highlights loopholes in federal law that allow companies to sell products containing chemicals of concern, showing the importance of corporate action.
“In nearly every aisle of the dollar store you can still find products containing chemicals that could pose health risks to families and children,” said José Bravo, National Coordinator of the Campaign for Healthier Solutions. “But we know healthier dollar stores are possible.”
Both major dollar stores rank poorly on safer chemical policy compared to other retailers, as shown by the Retailer Report Card. But CHS emphasized that Dollar Tree has shown more willingness to engage with the campaign than Dollar General, which has been unresponsive.
In positive news, the report also includes new test results suggesting that microwaveable popcorn packaging sold at dollar stores is now free of PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Four samples of microwaveable popcorn from four different brands (Orville Redenbaucher, Act II, Clover Valley, Pop Secret) purchased from Dollar General and Dollar Tree were sent to Galbraith Laboratories for testing, and no fluorine or fluoride was detected in packaging. In 2021, Dollar Tree committed to eliminate the intentional use of PFAS chemicals and phthalates in packaging from all private‐brand food and beverage products by 2023, after the Campaign for Healthier Solutions drew attention to the presence of PFAS in popcorn packaging sold at dollar stores and urged dollar stores to restrict the chemical.
“This shows the power of our collective advocacy,” said Bravo.
The Campaign for Healthier Solutions focuses on dollar stores due to their presence in communities of color and working class communities; chemicals of concern in dollar store products add to the cumulative, disproportionate environmental impacts that these populations face. The Campaign encourages individuals to contact dollar stores directly to demand safer products and improved chemical management policies. On May 8th, communities will also be taking action at their local dollar stores.
CHS urges Dollar Tree and Dollar General to:
- Immediately expand their restricted substances lists by adopting the Ban the Bad Priority list and Chemical Footprint Project’s comprehensive Chemicals of High Concern Reference List (CoHC);
- Require that all products they stock are free of detectable levels of lead, heavy metals, PVC and bisphenols, among other recommendations included in the report.
“Dollar Tree admirably committed to eliminate the use of PVC in its private-label children’s products by 2024, but this policy needs to apply to all products from all suppliers,” said Bravo. “Mothers shouldn’t have to read the fine print to know that toys at dollar stores are lead and PVC free.”
The Campaign for Healthier Solutions employed several methods to analyze dollar store products. 130 personal care, beauty, baby and cleaning products with listed ingredients were scanned using the Clearya mobile app and further analyzed by the Clearya Insights platform, which flagged 46 products that contained ingredients linked to serious health concerns as defined by authoritative chemical hazard lists. An additional 217 products were purchased by community members across the country and submitted to Ecology Center lab, where they were screened for lead using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and analyzed for the presence of PVC using both XRF and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR was also used to identify bisphenol S (BPS) color developers in store receipts.
"Our surveys show that farm worker communities in central California are shopping regularly at dollar stores, and many are buying toys, cleaning products, personal hygiene products, and holiday items. None of these products should be exposing our families to toxic chemicals." said Yunuen Ibarra, Director of Programs at Líderes Campesinas.
"Communities in Texas are harmed by the dirty manufacturing of PVC, which also ends up in cheap children's toys at the dollar store. We are urging dollar stores to switch to safer materials for our kids," said Deyadira Arellano, community organizer with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services.
“Children innocently grab the toys and put them in their mouths, which is very worrying, especially regarding the results of the CHS investigation. I work with a support group for children with special needs, and I am concerned that they also put these toys in their mouths, along with the high degree of contamination that the products contain, as listed in the CHS report,” said Claudia Rios, Director and Founder of Las Manos Trabajadoras Que Mueven El Mundo. “Pollution can occur 3 times: in the chemical industry manufacturing, when the product is purchased and enters the home, and when it goes to the landfill. This is very concerning, and we need Dollar Tree to take action and protect our families.”
"Busy parents shouldn't have to scan the ingredients list of every product they buy to make sure it's safe for our families,” said Yolanda Brown Alston, Director of Workforce Programs at Harambee House. “Dollar stores need to step up on chemical safety and provide quality products that add value to our communities.”
"Los Jardines Institute is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our communities. During the time of Easter in 2024, we visited our local dollar stores in the South Valley and purchased products our families often buy during the Easter season. We then sent those products unopened in their original packaging to be tested at a certified laboratory. We were upset to find out one item in particular that came back "dirty" was a kids Easter Bracelet with a little baby chick bouncing out with a bow on their head. Unfortunately, this bracelet was made with harmful PVC, and inside the bracelet there was lead, antimony and bromine. These chemicals are all harmful and absolutely unnecessary in children's products,” said Richard Moore, Co-Coordinator of Los Jardines Institute. “This is unacceptable and we encourage everyone, especially those responsible for youth and elder wellbeing or with a pre-existing health condition, to be extremely careful when purchasing products from the dollar store. And use the Campaign for Healthier Solutions to see the results from the product testing, tips for staying safe and how to spread this information and make an impact."
“No child or pregnant mother should be exposed to chemicals that harm children’s brain health and learning potential, but phthalates, heavy metals and other neurotoxins are found in dollar store products”, said Tracy Gregoire, Healthy Children Project Director for the Learning Disabilities Association of America. “Parents and educators need to know all dollar store products are free of chemicals linked to learning disabilities, ADHD, and developmental disabilities like autism.”
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The Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS) is urging the nation’s largest dollar stores to implement corporate policies to phase out harmful chemicals in the products they sell, mandate the use of safer chemicals, and stock healthy, locally-grown foods in stores. CHS is a community-led, collaborative project of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform and Coming Clean that includes farmworker advocates, environmental justice communities and environmental health organizations. Together, we are demanding that dollar stores proactively protect the health and well-being of the communities in which they operate. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and visit nontoxicdollarstores.org to learn more about our product testing.
Available for Comment
Deidre Nelms; Communications Director; Coming Clean; (802) 251-0203 ext. 711, dnelms@comingcleaninc.org.