Sherwin-Williams announced on Friday that it will stop selling paint strippers containing the deadly chemical methylene chloride by the end of this year! The company, which is the nation’s largest specialty retailer of paint and painting supplies, also confirmed that it does not sell and does not plan to sell paint strippers containing another toxic chemical called N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) had sent the company a letter urging them to phase out the sale of these toxic products. Sherwin-Williams’ announcement came just two weeks after Lowe’s became the first major U.S. retailer to announce a ban on paint strippers containing chemicals that have been found to pose unacceptable health risks, including cancer, harm to the nervous system and childhood development, and even death. When will The Home Depot and other retailers like Wal-Mart, Menards and Ace Harware take action? And when will the EPA finalize its proposal to ban these toxic products? In January 2017, the EPA proposed banning paint strippers containing these chemicals under the newly strengthened Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), citing the products’ unreasonable risks to human health. Deferring to the wishes of the chemical industry, the agency shelved the proposed ban soon after Scott Pruitt was confirmed as EPA Administrator and the agency has taken no action in 18 months. In May, two days after EPA Administrator Pruitt met with families who have lost loved ones due to methylene chloride exposure in the past 18 months, the EPA announced that it would finalize a methylene chloride rule. However, the agency has revealed few details on its planned regulatory action, offered no timeline, and has taken no action on NMP. We’ll continue to urge EPA to finalize a full ban immediately. Let’s hope The Home Depot and EPA act soon. Lives may be depending on it.