Abercrombie & Fitch: Stop Spraying Toxic Fragrance!

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Sep 28, 2010, 04:11 ET

Teens, Parents, Nurses Demand Halt to Toxic Spraying in Stores

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teenagers from Teens Turning Green are leading more than two dozen groups including parents, environmental health advocates, women's and medical organizations in demanding that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) stop spraying its signature fragrance Fierce inside and outside its stores.

Emily Packer, co-president of Teens Turning Green explains, "Teens don't want to be in or around stores that are polluted with chemicals that can make people sick."

A recent report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics revealed that A&F's Fierce contains 11 secret chemicals that are not listed on the label; eight sensitizing chemicals that can trigger allergic reactions such as headaches, wheezing, asthma and contact dermatitis; and high levels of a hormone-disrupting chemical that may harm male reproductive health.

The teens and many other groups, including Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, MomsRising, American Fertility Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, AllergyKids and the State Nurses Associations of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York – together representing 1.5 million members – sent a letter today to A&F CEO Mike Jeffries raising concerns about the health effects of the company's practice of frequently spraying its stores, clothing and spaces outside its stores with fragrance.

"Abercrombie & Fitch owes it to its 10,000 workers and customers in 300 stores nationwide to stop spraying toxic chemicals in the air with no notification or consent," said Lisa Archer, national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund.

"More than 30 percent of the general population reports breathing difficulties, headaches and other problems from fragranced products," said Anne Steinemann, PhD, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Public Affairs at University of Washington, and author of a fragrance-sensitivity study published in Journal of Environmental Health.

The Campaign's testing also revealed that Fierce contained diethyl phthalate at 3,500 parts per million. Recent human studies link diethyl phthalate to sperm damage in adult men, abnormal reproductive development in baby boys and neurological disorders in children.

"It's ironic and disturbing that A&F markets itself with images of 'manly men' and yet is spraying chemicals that may actually cause sperm damage and other problems," said Lauren Pey of Teens Turning Green.

Letter to Mr. Jeffries: http://www.safecosmetics.org/downloads/Abercrombie-CSC-letter_Sep28-2010.pdf

Not So Sexy fragrance report: http://safecosmetics.org/NotSoSexy

SOURCE Campaign for Safe Cosmetics