North Hollywood-based OPI, Inc. Announces Removal of Toxic Chemicals from Nail Care Products
Read the original article here
LA Business Journal
by: Staff reporter Howard Fine
One of the nation's largest nail polish manufacturers, North
Hollywood-based OPI Products Inc., has decided to get ahead of the regulatory
bandwagon, announcing it has eliminated both the toxic solvent toluene and the
plasticizer dibutyl phthalate (DBP) from its nail care products.
OPI
Products chief operating officer Eric Schwartz made the toluene announcement in
a March 12 letter to the environmental group Women's Voices for the Earth, which
has been pressuring the nail cosmetics industry to remove toxins from products
to reduce health risks to manufacturing and nail salon workers.
While
Schwartz in the letter defended OPI's longtime product lines, "rather than
getting mired in the question of whether the old formulas were safe, I'm sure
you will agree it's more important to focus on the future."
Schwartz
explained that DBP was removed because of new European Union standards banning
the chemical. As for the toluene removal, OPI spokesman Harris Shepard said
that, "Our technology was able to find substitutes for toluene. Given that, no
matter how ill-founded the concerns are about toluene, why not go ahead and make
changes."
Shepard said that while the reformulation cost a "significant
amount" of money, OPI's rapid growth and its revenue base of $115 million gave
it the ability to make the investment without causing harm to the bottom
line.
Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at
hfine@labusinessjournal.com or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227.
Read the original article from the LA Business Journal here
Read the Report: Glossed Over (pdf)Learn more about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Read more media stories about WVE