EPA Strengthens the Safer Choice Standard for Commercial and Household Cleaning Products
Updated label criteria for products will make it easier for consumers to identify safer, more sustainable options
WASHINGTON – Today, Aug. 8, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized updates to strengthen the Safer Choice and Design for the Environment (DfE) Standard, which identifies the requirements that products and their ingredients must meet to earn EPA's Safer Choice label or DfE logo. These updates strengthen the criteria products must meet to qualify for the voluntary Safer Choice label, supporting the use of safer chemicals in the marketplace.
The Safer Choice program makes it easier for consumers and purchasers for facilities like schools and office buildings to find cleaners, detergents and other products made with safer chemical ingredients. Similarly, the DfE program helps people find disinfectants that meet high standards for public health and the environment.
“When consumers see the Safer Choice label on products in stores or online, they can be confident that the products were made with the safest possible ingredients,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention Jennie Romer. “We’ve updated EPA’s Safer Choice and DfE Standard for the first time in nearly a decade with feedback from our stakeholders to make it stronger, more transparent and to include updated packaging sustainability standards.”
In addition to updated clarifying language, the final updated Standard includes:
- A new certification program for cleaning service providers that use Safer Choice- and DfE-certified products. The program will help protect workers that use cleaning products as well as the people who live or work in the spaces they clean.
- Strengthened criteria that pet care products must meet to ensure they use only the safest possible ingredients for humans, pets and the environment.
- Updated safer packaging criteria, ensuring primary packaging does not include any intentionally 1 added PFAS or other chemicals of concern.
- Strengthened sustainable packaging requirements for all Safer Choice-certified products to use post-consumer recycled content and be recyclable, or be reusable.
- Updated criteria for wipe products to ensure certified wipes contain “Do Not Flush” language to help reduce damage to wastewater treatment systems.
- New, optional energy efficiency or use reduction criteria to encourage companies to use less water, use renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.
This update follows a November 2023 request for public comment on EPA’s proposed updates to the Standard. This is EPA’s fourth update of the Standard since its inception in 2009 and the first since 2015. EPA periodically updates the Standard to keep current with the state of scientific and technological innovation, increase transparency and reduce redundancy, and expand the scope of the program as appropriate.
Please read the updated Standard.
Safer Choice
Safer Choice encourages use of chemicals that meet EPA’s stringent criteria for human health and the environment and provides opportunities for companies to differentiate their products in the marketplace with the Safer Choice label. EPA scientists examine every ingredient—no matter its concentration—to make sure Safer Choice-certified products contain only the safest possible ingredients. With thousands of certified products, the Safer Choice label is a reliable way for people to find products whose chemical ingredients have met EPA’s criteria for being safer without sacrificing performance. Visit the Safer Choice program website for more information.
Design for the Environment
Similar to the Safer Choice label, EPA’s DfE logo helps people identify antimicrobial products like disinfectants that meet the health and safety standards of the normal pesticide registration process required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act as well as meeting the Safer Choice and DfE Standard. When a person sees EPA’s DfE logo on a product, they can feel confident that the product performs and meets stringent EPA criteria for human health and the environment. Visit the Design for the Environment website for more information.
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