The new regulators: retailers and states take the lead A growing trend in the crafting of regulations, wherein retailers and individual federal states are initiating environmental guidelines, is emerging in the USA's chemical sector. Wal-Mart has proposed to declare limits on 17 other substances employed in 'chemical intensive' products by the end of 2008, after banning in 2006 three substances, namely, nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE), an ingredient in several cleaning products, and propoxur and permethrin, which are used to control household insects. The retailer has also created a sustainability scorecard for electronics to grade the environmental effect of products, concentrating on product-topackaging ratios. Meanwhile, Target reported the reduction of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in a variety of products, which include those for children. Toys R' Us also presented new standards for suppliers, which include substantially raising the rate of third-party testing, date-coding of products, and a stricter lead specification for products exclusively for the firm. It has also informed producers that children's products retailed in any Toys R' Us or Babies R' Us stores must be free of phthalates by the end of 2008. Other retailers that followed or initiated such trend include Ikea, Whole Foods, Office Depot, H&M, Herman Miller, Steelcase, Nestle Waters, Apple, and Dell. US states or municipalities that espouse or implement such regulations include Seattle,