As the largest home improvement retailer in the world, The Home Depot must be a leader in transitioning away from plastic building products made with cancer-causing chemicals.
Vinyl chloride is the basic building block for making polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a widely used plastic that harms health and the environment during production, use, and disposal. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen associated with liver cancer, brain and lung cancers, and cancers of the blood. Its lifecycle has polluted the air of frontline communities, such as in Louisiana, Texas, and most recently in East Palestine, Ohio.
URGE THE HOME DEPOT TO PHASE OUT PVC!
Many vinyl products are often filled with several toxic additives such as phthalates, which can pollute the air inside of our homes and build up in dust.
Roughly 70% of all PVC is used in building materials, and as the largest home improvement chain in the U.S. and world, The Home Depot should leverage its leadership and influence to ban PVC from its store shelves and “help doers get more done” with safer building products.
We know change is possible. In the past, The Home Depot has led the industry in removing harmful chemicals from its products. They’ve eliminated phthalates in flooring, PFAS in carpets, and deadly methylene chloride in paint strippers. More recently, they’ve made progress in reducing the use of PVC in their private-label packaging. However, PVC continues to be used in brand-name packaging and many building materials it sells, such as flooring.
Now they have the opportunity to lead once again. We urge The Home Depot to phase out PVC by reducing packaging and selling safer, healthier materials.