Procter & Gamble Co: Disclosure of PFAS-Related Risk Management Practices

April 25, 2024 As You Sow

WHEREAS: The costs associated with exposure to toxic chemicals, like poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), raise significant health, safety, reputational, litigation, and long-term financial viability concerns for companies whose products use or include PFAS.

Procter & Gamble’s Tampax products were recently featured prominently in a recent study testing menstrual products for PFAS. The EPA-certified lab used in the study detected 23 parts per million organic fluorine in Tampax tampons and labeled them as “not recommended.”[1] This study received attention from the media and increased consumer awareness of the product's toxicity.[2]

The significant adverse health effects associated with PFAS contributed to class-action lawsuits and associated financial costs to major chemical producers.[3]

PFAS are a group of widely used chemicals that the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has linked to cancer, low birth weight, high blood pressure, and immune system changes.[4] Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine also recently discovered that PFAS can decrease women’s ability to get pregnant by as much as 40%.[5]

States are limiting the use of PFAS in products. California’s governor approved a bill prohibiting the sale or distribution of any beauty or personal care product containing PFAS chemicals beginning on January 1, 2024.[6] New York recently introduced a similar bill targeting PFAS in personal care products.[7]

Procter & Gamble states its commitment to ensuring the environmental and human safety of all its ingredients and products, but it has not issued its position on PFAS in its personal care products, including Tampax. The Company does not disclose whether or how it tests for PFAS in its products and whether it minimizes PFAS use or contamination.

In contrast, other personal care product manufacturers seek to improve product safety and reduce liability by minimizing PFAS and disclosing progress:

Target committed to removing intentionally added PFAS from owned brand products by 2025. In 2023, Target reported success in removing PFAS from all formulated products in its Target Clean program.[8]
Rael, a leading personal care brand, publicly states that it does not intentionally use or add PFAS to its products. The company also publishes its products’ PFAS test results conducted by a third party.[9]
Seventh Generation is a member of ChemSec’s PFAS Movement and funds work eliminating chemicals of concern from the marketplace that threaten the health of pregnant women, children, and workers.[10]

In a competitive marketplace increasingly demanding safe products and reduced harm to human and environmental health, shareholders seek information on how Procter & Gamble plans to manage and reduce the presence of PFAS in its products.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that Procter and Gamble issue a public report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, disclosing how the Company manages the environmental and health risks associated with PFAS chemicals in its products.

[1] https://www.mamavation.com/beauty/pfas-tampons.html

[2] https://time.com/6254060/pfas-period-chemicals-underwear-tampons/

[3] https://www.wlf.org/2020/01/31/publishing/the-2020-outlook-for-pfas-chemical-litigation-an-expanding-target-zone/

[4] https://www.pfas.des.nh.gov/health-impacts

[5] https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2023/exposure-to-chemicals-found-in-everyday-products-is-linked-to-significantly-reduced-fertility

[6] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2771

[7] https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A04600&term=2023&Summary=Y&Text=Y

[8] https://corporate.target.com/getmedia/e4f81467-57ab-4787-a5a7-ab6efb7dd05c/Target-2023-Sustainability-and-Governance-Report.pdf

[9] https://www.getrael.com/blogs/r-blog/our-statement

[10] https://www.seventhgeneration.com/sites/default/files/2022-09/SVG_Fingerprints_Climate_Impact_Report_2021.pdf

Resolution Details

Company: Procter & Gamble Co.