Safer Choice helps consumers, businesses, and purchasers find products that perform well and are safer for human health and the environment.
What do you know about the Safer Choice Label?
Finding cleaning and other products that are safer for you and your organization is what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed and it’s called the New Safer Choice labels. With Safer Choice label help us consumers identify and select products that consist of safer chemical ingredients.
It all started back in 1992 when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Design for the Environment (DfE) label as an innovative, non-regulatory initiative to help companies consider human health, environmental and economic effects of chemicals and technologies, as well as product performance, when designing and manufacturing commercial products and processes.
When you see a product with the Safer Choice label, it means that every ingredient of that product has been reviewed by the EPA. Products that meet the Safer Choice Standard is allowed to carry the label.
There are more than 2000 products today that are carrying the new EPA’s Safer Choice label. These chemicals are safer alternatives, grouped by their functional –use class. There is a list called Safer Chemical Ingredients that is designed to help manufactures find safer chemical alternatives that meet the criteria of the Safer Choice program.
Safe Choices label primarily covers the following categories:
- All-purpose cleaners
- Athletic field paints
- Car care products
- Dish soaps
- Floor cleaners
- Laundry products
You can find products that meet the Safer Choice Standard at https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/products. Chemical Safety Software has incorporated the Safer Choice initiative in its product database at www.chemicalsafety.com, which can be searched under the “Greener Chemical Alternative” option in the EMS Cloud-based software. You can register for a free 30-day trial at https://cloud.chemicalsafety.com/weblogin/Register.aspx.
In order for a product to get the Safer Choice label, manufacturers need to submit their safer chemical to EPA for review in order to enter the Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL).
How to get a chemical listed on SCIL:
- Become familiar with the list. SCIL is organized by functional class (colorants, polymers, fragrances, oxidants, solvents etc) which reflect the program’s substantial work on cleaning, maintenance, and related products.
- Profiling the chemical. Any chemical manufacturer that wishes to apply, they must fully disclose chemical(s) in the chemical product under consideration to EPA’s Safer Choice Program and to a qualified third-party profiler. There are three authorized third party profilers: NSF, International and ToxServices, LLC.
- Safer Choice Reviews the Profile and Determines SCIL Status. Once the chemical’s hazard profile is completed, Safer Choice will carefully review the profile in the context of its functional class and make a decision on whether the chemical meets the Safer Choice criteria for SCIL listing.
