September 24, 2007

 
H. Fisk Johnson, Ph.D.
Chairman/CEO
SC Johnson
1525 Howe Street
Racine, WI  53403-5011

 
Dear Mr. Johnson,

On June 22^nd and again on July 10^th Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE) sent a letter requesting information about your current labeling practices for household cleaning products.  We have not yet received a response from your company. On behalf of thousands of women across the country, we formally request that you add full ingredient labeling to your packaging.  Furthermore, we ask you to work towards removing ingredients that may be harmful from your products.  We would appreciate a response to this letter and request by Friday, October 12, 2007.

In July 2007, Women's Voices for the Earth released a report entitled "Household Hazards: Potential Hazards of Home Cleaning Products."  The report garnered significant public attention.

For example, the report was covered in the following news outlets:

• Front page of the San Francisco Chronicle (see enclosed copy)
• Front page of the Seattle Post Intelligencer
• The New York Post
• Numerous Spanish-speaking outlets, including Univision TV & Spanish CNN
• NPR Marketplace

 
In addition, thousands of consumers have contacted us regarding the report:

• Over 12,000 individuals visited our website to download the report and appendix in the weeks following the release;
• Online, new bloggers post links to the report every week;
• WVE’s petition, which asks manufacturers of household cleaners to remove toxic ingredients from their products and disclose ingredients on their packaging, receives new endorsements each and every day from consumers nationwide;
• Women are contacting WVE daily with questions about the report and concerns about cleaners.

 
The message is clear.  Consumers want to know what ingredients are in the products they use in their homes and they want to be informed about the potential effects of these chemicals on their health and the health of their families.

 
The best way to provide this information to consumers, at the point of purchase, is through full disclosure of ingredients on product labels. Please refer to the enclosed fact sheet for more information about why product labeling is necessary.

 
Long-standing and trusted companies such as yours claim to provide products to improve people's homes. We appreciate SC Johnson's strong stance on environmental performance and safety as exemplified by your Greenlist program.  We understand the Greenlist program has led to reformulations of your products to replace chemicals of concern, and are grateful for your leadership in the cleaning products industry on this issue.  However, WVE identified Windex Aerosol and Whistle All Purpose Cleaner which contain 2-butoxyethanol which is linked to reproductive harm.  We have had conversations with Bill Keegan of Edelman Public Relations who informed us that Windex Aerosol is no longer manufactured as a household cleaner, but rather as a commercial cleaner produced by Johnson Diversey.  We are still awaiting confirmation from you that this is the case, and that 2-butoxyethanol has been removed from the formulation of these products.

 
We hope you will continue to lead the industry by responding to requests to improve public health and safety by providing full disclosure of product ingredients and by working to remove hazardous chemicals from your formulas. WVE would like to include your company in a list of leading cleaning products manufacturers who are working to improve the health and safety of consumer products.

 
Women’s Voices for the Earth represents a rapidly growing constituency of women nationally who want to make informed choices about the products they consume. In the coming months, WVE will continue to inform women across the country about our Safe Cleaning Products Initiative.  We are not only engaging women through the media, our website, and through our personal networks, but we are also collaborating with many other organizations across the country to disseminate information about our campaign in local communities.  We look forward to notifying them about your company’s policy on ingredient labeling. We kindly request a response to this letter in writing by Friday, October 12th, 2007. 

 
If you have any questions, you may contact me at (406) 543-3747 or by email at alex@womenandenvironment.org.  Thank you for your consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

 
Alexandra Gorman
Director of Science and Research

Download a copy of the letter (.doc)