Eliminate toxic chemicals

Greenpeace has led a campaign to show that hazardous chemicals are out of control in the environment, widespread in household products, electronic goods and children's clothes, and detectable in house dust, rain water, food and, ultimately, our own bodies.

This exposure to harmful chemicals is the consequence of current laws, which allow chemicals to be released into the environment and routinely used in consumer products on the assumption that they cause no harm.

To spur innovative solutions, Greenpeace has in recent years approached brand product manufacturers and asked them to commit to substitute harmful chemicals in their products with safer alternatives. Reebok, Samsung, Puma, Nokia and Playmobil are just a handful of the many companies that have adopted good substitution policies to phase out hazardous chemicals.

In Spain, we worked with top names in Spanish fashion and retail giants Mango and Camper to create Moda Sin Tóxicos, a toxic-free fashion show, which took place in Madrid in June 2006, at which designers showed one-off outfits made without hazardous chemicals commonly used in the textiles industry. Mango and Camper both committed to implement substitution policies over the coming years.