Home Depot has become the latest retailer to step up its efforts to eliminate more chemicals from its shelves.
The world’s largest home improvement chain announced this week it is going to phase out products with formaldehyde and lead from several product categories. The company said it is working with suppliers and environmental groups to find alternative “greener” products.
In its 2017 Responsibility Report, the company said it will commit to increasing the “assortment of products that have transparency of product ingredients and third party certification of chemical ingredients.”
The move comes amidst a wider retail industry push towards increased scrutiny of toxic chemicals in an array of home goods. In 2015, Home Depot promised to eliminate phthalates from its vinyl flooring products.
The use of formaldehyde in flooring became a widely discussed national issue after a “60 Minutes” investigation in 2015 revealed that Lumber Liquidators was selling laminate flooring with levels of the chemical above regulatory limits.
Home Depot said it will no longer sell paints, carpet and insulation containing formaldehyde. And although the store will still carry laminate flooring containing formaldehyde, it will limit the allowable level to 0.0073 parts per million, which is lower than the 0.05 ppm allowed in California.
