Protect Consumers from Methylene Chloride
What's At Stake
Reports have linked methylene chloride to nearly 60 deaths.
In a matter of minutes, this lethal chemical—found in paint strippers—could turn home projects into a tragedy. Its noxious fumes can cause liver toxicity, cancer, and even trigger fatal heart attacks. It’s harmful to the nervous system and easily transfers into breast milk.
Despite these risks, anyone can walk into home stores and purchase methylene chloride–based products. No one should have to worry about unknowingly exposing themselves to a known poison and suspected carcinogen—especially when safer alternatives already exist.
After NRDC and allies, together with hundreds of thousands of concerned consumers, called on CEOs to put consumer safety first and remove this dangerous ingredient from store shelves, Lowe's, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot, and Walmart listened. We will continue to work to get more retailers to pull methylene chloride from their stores, as well as push the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do its job and permanently ban this toxic chemical.
Call on the Biden administration to take bold action for our environment
Learn More
Reporting, expert commentary, analysis, and more.
If the EPA underestimates the risk of a chemical, it leaves people—particularly vulnerable populations like children, workers, and fenceline communities—exposed to unsafe levels of toxic chemicals. And that’s what the agency is doing with methylene chloride.
We will urge the court to compel EPA to take the steps the law requires to protect workers, bystanders, and the general public from deadly methylene chloride.
5
Canadian Tire, a major home-improvement store in Canada, became the fifth retailer to commit to banning paint strippers containing methylene chloride and NMP.
200K
The number of consumers who petitioned to ban methylene chloride paint strippers from Lowe's, which announced that it's pulling the products from its shelves on May 29
Drew Wynne was found dead after the 31-year-old attempted to resurface the floor of a walk-in refrigerator with a paint stripper containing methylene chloride that he bought at Lowe’s. Wynne was wearing a respirator and gloves.
