Dollar Tree to Pay $190K Over Toxic Material Found in Kids' Products

Dollar Tree will change the way it tests children’s products to ensure better safety.

In a legally binding resolution, Dollar Tree has agreed to pay $190,000 and to more thoroughly test children’s products. The agreement follows a Washington state investigation finding that school supplies sold by the national retailer had illegal levels of toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium.

To avoid a lawsuit, Greenbrier International, doing business as Dollar Tree, entered into a nationwide legally binding agreement in Washington state’s King County Superior Court. The agreement requires the company to ensure that the laboratories it uses outside the United States follow testing methods for lead and cadmium that are audited and verified through independent experts.

Testing by the Washington State Department of Ecology revealed that numerous children’s bracelets and pencil pouches sold by Dollar Tree stores in Washington state contained illegal levels of lead and cadmium. The department tested bracelets and pencil pouches sold at Dollar Tree stores in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Its independent testing showed that the pencil pouches in some cases contained more than four times the state and federal limit for lead or four times the state limit for cadmium. The department turned over the test results to the Washington Attorney General’s Office for investigation and enforcement under the state Consumer Protection Act as well as the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

When the Attorney General’s Office informed Dollar Tree of the investigation’s findings, the retailer provided documentation from laboratories outside the United States showing that the toxic metals, including lead and cadmium, fell within permissible levels. The Attorney General’s Office presented the company with findings from an expert independent review of these tests that showed that they contained errors or missing information. Dollar Tree cooperated with the investigation and removed the flagged products from its stores.

As part of its agreement, Greenbrier will do the following for the next five years:

Use X-ray fluorescence technology to screen samples of children’s products imported from outside the United States.
Rotate the testing of children’s products through different third-party laboratories on an annual basis.
Require laboratories it uses to provide written procedures for how they will test for lead and cadmium.
Require a third-party expert and laboratory in the United States to audit its overseas testing of children’s products, using federal environmental and consumer protection standards.

In addition, Greenbrier will pay the Attorney General’s Office $190,000, which will be used for future enforcement of the Consumer Protection Act and environmental protection efforts, as well as attorney costs and fees.

Progressive Grocer reached out to Dollar Tree for comment, but did not hear back at press time.

Both state and federal laws prohibit the sale or distribution of children’s products that contain lead or cadmium above certain levels. Lead can cause a variety of neurological problems in children, and in large amounts, it can lead to organ failure and death. The federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act prohibits levels of lead exceeding 100 parts per million (ppm) in any accessible component of a children’s product, and it cannot exceed 90 ppm under state law. Levels of cadmium, a metal known to cause cancer, cannot exceed 40 ppm under state law, or 75 ppm under federal law.

Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Canada stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces. The company is No. 20 on The PG 100, PG’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.