Are your favourite dollar store items harbouring dangerous chemicals?

The report found that one in four items tested were positive for substances managed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Many of the findings were within the allowable limits, but the report said those limits are not strong enough.

For example, the outer ring on a set of stereo headphones was found to have 24 times the legal limit of lead, and five times the legal limit of cadmium.

The solder inside the same headphones had 170 times what is considered safe on the outer portions of the headphones. The solder on a separate set of earbud-style headphones had 3,000 times the amount of lead allowed on the accessible portions.

But the solder is not covered by the regulations, a gap Environmental Defence insists must be closed.

“Dollar stores are one piece of the puzzle, but these retailers have an opportunity to protect their customers,” said Barker. “There are solutions to getting lead out of products. We shouldn’t be dealing with a legacy of highly toxic substances like lead in 2022.”

Barker said the tests were done on items from dollar stores because such stores are often the only option for people with low incomes or in marginalized communities.

She added the report is more of a first effort to address toxic chemicals saying others like hormone-disrupting chemicals in products could pose a risk in the future.

Combined, Dollarama and Dollar Tree have several locations in the north and north central parts of the province including shops in Prince Albert, Battleford, Melfort and North Battleford. Saskatoon has 13 Dollarama and Dollar Tree locations in the city.

When asked about the report and the calls for change, Dollarama responded with an email, calling out what they claimed were several inaccuracies in Environmental Defence’s report.

“The report as presented contains numerous incorrect assumptions and false claims regarding Dollarama’s business and products, the retail category it belongs to and its consumer base,” The statement reads. “Importantly, Dollarama, which caters to all demographics and income ranges, is held to the very same standards as all other Canadian retailers, as are its products, many of which come from the very same sources as those sold by other major national retailers. We understand that Environmental Defence Canada’s mission is to advocate for a tightening of the existing regulatory framework but also believe they should do so with factual information.”

The statement goes on to say that product safety is the company’s utmost priority, and they closely monitor regulatory development and adapts its practices to ensure continued compliance with evolving product safety rules and regulations as well as industry standards.

Barker said the goal here is to make sure all retailers follow the same guidelines to protect consumers.

“Obviously, retailers shouldn’t be shirking their responsibility for having safe products on their shelves,” she said, but regulators are leaving “big loopholes” for dollar stores to walk through.”

Dollar Tree has so far not responded to a request for comment.

–With files from The Canadian Press

—

derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock

by Derek Craddock

Are your favourite dollar store items harbouring dangerous chemicals?

What's Trending