Today, EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) Program is pleased to announce the posting of the DfE Safer Chemical Ingredients List. The list and notice are available from our homepage at http://www.epa.gov/dfe, in the “What’s New with DfE?” box, or you may go directly to the list at http://www.epa.gov/dfe/saferingredients.htm.
The Safer Chemical Ingredients List is composed of chemicals submitted by manufacturers in formulations that have earned the DfE label. This “best-in-class” list will serve as a resource for many groups: formulators interested in making safer products; health and environmental advocates seeking to encourage the use of safer chemicals; and consumers seeking information on the ingredients in safer chemical products. The list, organized by functional class, can help product manufacturers and stakeholders to easily identify chemicals that the DfE Program has already evaluated and identified as safer. It will be a “living list” that is updated periodically to include new chemicals that have been reviewed by DfE and to reflect new data and innovations in safer chemistry.
The listed chemicals are identified by their common name and Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) number, with a link to their CAS specific name. All chemicals in the list meet DfE’s safer chemical criteria and are among the safest chemicals for their particular function. A geometric color symbol will appear next to each chemical to help users better understand a chemical’s hazard status, for example, the degree of certainty in the hazard profile or the need for more data or safer alternatives. This list only includes chemicals in products that were voluntarily submitted for evaluation through the DfE Safer Product Labeling Program. There may be other chemicals not included in this list that are also safer.
Please note that a product that contains chemicals on the list cannot automatically use the DfE logo. Only manufacturers whose products go through formal DfE review, meet both ingredient- and product-level DfE criteria, and enter into partnership agreements with EPA can use the DfE logo on their product. The publication of this list, however, should make it easier for product formulators to develop new products and move them through the DfE process more quickly.
The DfE list will complement the CleanGredients database, which will continue to serve as a marketplace for chemicals that are acceptable for use in DfE-labeled products and provide trade name chemicals, physical-chemical and functional properties, hazard information, vendor contacts and other information.
Source: EPA news