By Michael Metzger and Robb Long

It might have appeared to a passerby that a toxic spill of some kind had taken place outside of Target headquarters on Thursday. Two men stood in the drizzle dressed in hazmat outfits, talking about poison.

Leslie Davis, a self-proclaimed Earth Protector, stood in the rain because he said there’s a poisonous presence spreading from inside the corporate offices every day.

That’s because Target sells products containing PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

PVC is commonly refered to as vinyl, a pliable plastic many environmentalists claim is dangerous to people and nature.

"PVC is a poison plastic," Davis said. "[Target] sells these PVC shower curtains [among other vinyl products], and when the gases come off the shower curtains in your house, that’s a problem."

The company has been the focus of a national campaign by environmentalists eager to get it to agree to "meet or beat" competitor Wal-Mart's commitment to phase out PVC from children's products it sells.

Davis and one other protester spent part of the morning handing out flyers urging consumers to send a message to hometown Target: stop selling products and packaging made of PVC.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer website (cleveland.com), protesters also greeted the annual meeting of Target shareholders convened Thursday at a new store on Cleveland's west side. Like Davis, these protesters wore outfits resembling hazardous materials protective suits as they held signs protesting the continuing sale of products made with PVC.

Target Chief Executive Bob Ulrich told the Plain Dealer that the company "will make as much progress in this area as other retailers."

Davis said he hand-delivered a letter to Ulrich earlier this week, urging the company to drop PVC from its product lines.

(Click here to listen to Leslie Davis explain why he wants Target to phase out PVC packaging in its stores. Click here to listen to Davis explain why he and his companion wore hazmat outfits during their protest.)

Davis, 70, of North Minneapolis, is a perennial candidate for political office. He ran for governor of Minnesota last year (“a well-kept secret,” he said of his campaign).

He said his Earth Protector company is in the business of filing lawsuits to stop environmental damage. He said Earth Protector has sued the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County and the Walt Disney Company, among others, since he founded the company in 1983.

He said future protests are planned for the Target store Downtown, but no dates have yet been set.

The “Leslie Davis Earth Protector Show” is shown on cable channel 6 on Tuesday mornings at six and cable channel 16 on Tuesday evenings at seven, he said.

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