Loblaw promising to remove harmful ingredients from products by 2018

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Loblaw is promising to keep its customers clean without harmful ingredients.

The company, Loblaw Companies Limited, said it will no longer be using products that contain triclosan, phthalates and microbeads by the end of 2018.

Life Brand and President’s Choice household, beauty and cosmetic products will no longer include the ingredients.

“Emerging science and public opinion suggest a measured move away from some specific ingredients is prudent,” Galen G. Weston, Loblaws’s executive chairman and president, said in a release.

“Working with our scientific advisors, we identified ingredients that may have a negative impact on the environment, or on our customers, and are working to remove them.”

Environmental defence’s executive director Tim Gray said Loblaw is showing clear leadership among Canadian retailers in a press release on Thursday.

“We also need to ask why the federal government is not moving to ban toxic chemicals to protect all Canadians,” said Gray.

Triclosan

What: Commonly found in antibacterial soaps, body washes, toothpaste, deodorant, eye and face makeup, lotion, shampoo and mouthwash.

Concern: Toxic to aquatic bacteria and various types of algae and can affect the structure of algal communities. Triclosan is also used as a preservative in pesticides to prevent odour, bacteria growth, fungus and mildew.

Phthalates

What: Commonly used to add fragrance to body lotions and nail polishes. Also used to make plastic more flexible.

Concern: They could interfere with the body’s endocrine system, which produces hormones and includes all of the glands in the human body.

Microbeads

What: Commonly used in facial and body scrubs made up of tiny pebbles of plastic.

Concern: Water-treatment systems fail to capture the minuscule pebbles so they end up in lakes, rivers and the gullets of fish.

 

With files from Canadian Press and Government of Canada

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