This time of year, Target becomes like my second home. Dropping by to pick up school supplies, clothes and fall sports equipment in addition to my regular shopping, I’m in and out of my local store so often, they should personalize a parking spot for me.

Target is my go-to retailer, because I love their friendliness, overall product selection and affordability. And when they tell me to “Expect more, pay less,” I generally feel like they mean it.

And, well, I DO expect more. When my kids throw skin cream, hair gel or lip gloss into the shopping cart, I expect those items to be safe. And because the federal government does not regulate many ingredients that go into cosmetics and personal care, I expect my favorite retailer to assume some responsibility and create safeguards against cosmetic toxins to protect my family’s health.

Safe cosmetics… I don’t think that’s expecting too much, do you?

Many personal care products—from baby shampoo and deodorant to lotion and mascara—have been found to contain chemicals we inhale, ingest, and absorb through our skin. And, many of these chemicals may be linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other health problems epidemic in our society.

We'd all benefit if Target adopted a safe cosmetics policy that includes the following:

1. Creates a list of poisonous chemicals to ban from products in its beauty and personal care aisles, and reformulate its private label, Up & Up, to exclude any of those ingredients it may contain
2. Expands its selection of safer products
3. Transparency and inclusiveness about its progress in making cosmetic and personal care products safer

We have an opportunity to help Target set a store-wide safe cosmetics policy that would help us all. In fact, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reports, "Target carries a range of safer alternatives, but lacks a policy to address chemicals of concern in the full range of personal care products it sells. Target is currently determining what criteria would go into a personal care product standard."

And did you know that Target is regularly named to the Ethisphere Institute’s annual “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list, an honor the company is very proud of? It didn’t get that distinction without a strong sense of corporate responsibility and responsiveness to its customers.

Protecting our kids’ health from toxic cosmetics can’t wait, so moms need to speak up now to push the company forward in the process of removing such products from its shelves. The more moms speak up, the more clearly Target will hear us and the more urgently it will respond to us. Many moms spend a lot of time and money at Target, not only for Back-to-School, but also year-round.  Our voice has a huge impact.

Join MomsRising and other moms in telling Target to adopt a store-wide safe cosmetics policy now!

TAKE ACTION HERE: http://action.momsrising.org/cms/thanks/target_safe_cosmetics2