The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL) to enhance transparency in safer chemistry, help consumers and organizations find safer chemical alternatives, and increase innovation and growth of safer products. EPA is adding 27 chemicals to the list and updating listings of 23 chemicals on the list to reflect the state of the science, including marking one for removal after 12 months. EPA is also moving fragrances from the SCIL to a more comprehensive list of all approved fragrances to make it easier for product manufacturers to find fragrances that are acceptable for use in Safer Choice-certified products.
The SCIL is a living list of chemicals that EPA’s Safer Choice program has evaluated and determined meet Safer Choice criteria. With this update, there are a total of 957 chemicals on the SCIL, which are among the safest chemicals for their functional uses. The SCIL is one way manufacturers can find chemicals to include in products seeking Safer Choice certification.
EPA’s Safer Choice program certifies cleaning and other products with ingredients that have met the program’s rigorous human health and environmental safety criteria. The program allows companies to use its label on products that meet the Safer Choice Standard. No Safer Choice-certified products are impacted by today’s updates.
The Safer Choice program typically identifies new chemistries for the SCIL through their product and ingredient review process and through routine maintenance of the SCIL. Increasingly, organizations are submitting chemicals for EPA to consider adding to the SCIL. The Safer Choice program helps promote innovation in safer chemistry, and the chemicals added today are examples of this innovation.
Additions to the SCIL
EPA is adding 27 chemicals to the SCIL, bringing the total number of new chemicals added in 2024 to 29. The new additions include colorants, preservatives, processing aids and additives, polymers, solvents, and surfactants, giving product manufacturers more options for making high-performing products with safer chemicals.
Moving Fragrances from the SCIL
Fragrances are acceptable for use in Safer Choice-certified products if they meet the Safer Choice Criteria for Fragrances. Previously, a subset of fragrances was listed on the SCIL, but this subset did not represent all fragrances acceptable for use in Safer Choice-certified products. For clarity, EPA is moving the fragrances that were on the SCIL to the Safer Choice Fragrances Palette, a list available to all Safer Choice partners and stakeholders. The Palette now serves as the single, comprehensive source of approved fragrances.
The Safer Choice Criteria for Fragrances is unchanged, and fragrances that meet the criteria continue to be allowed in Safer Choice-certified products.
For purchasers and consumers that require or prefer products without fragrances, EPA will continue to allow use of the Fragrance-Free Safer Choice label on qualifying products. There are currently about 300 fragrance-free Safer Choice-certified products.
Updating SCIL Listings
EPA is updating the status of 23 chemicals on the SCIL. EPA designates every chemical listed on the SCIL with a color code corresponding to EPA’s confidence in the chemical listing and updates SCIL listings periodically to ensure the SCIL captures the state of the science.
As part of EPA’s routine maintenance of the SCIL, EPA determined 20 solvents on the SCIL that were previously characterized as “full green circles” or “yellow triangles” are better characterized as “half-green circles.” A half-green circle indicates the chemical is expected to be of low concern based on experimental and modeled data. Additional data would strengthen EPA’s confidence in the chemical’s safer status. EPA also determined one solvent, propyl acetate (CASRN 109-60-4), would be better characterized as a “yellow triangle,” meaning the chemical meets the Safer Choice Criteria for Solvents but is not entirely free of concerns for human health or environment. While it is a best-in-class chemical and among the safest available solvents, it could be considered an area for innovation in designing safer chemical alternatives.
EPA has recharacterized methyl ethyl ketone (CASRN 78-93-3) as a specialized industrial chemical on the SCIL to be consistent with other chemicals with similar hazard profiles. Specialized industrial chemicals represent a distinct subgroup of chemicals that meet the Criteria for Specialized Industrial Products and are used in products with unique performance requirements. All chemicals in this functional class are characterized as “yellow triangles.”
In addition, EPA is changing one chemical on the SCIL, ethyl lactate (CASRN 97-64-3), to a “grey square” and may remove the chemical from the list after one year because of a growing understanding of its potential health effects. A grey-square notation on the SCIL means that the chemical may not be allowed in Safer Choice-certified products unless relevant health and safety data are provided to justify continuing to list this chemical on the SCIL. Unless information provided to EPA adequately justifies continued listing, this chemical will be removed from the SCIL 12 months after the grey-square designation. No Safer Choice-certified products currently use this chemical.
EPA is committed to updating the SCIL with safer chemicals on a regular basis. EPA encourages manufacturers to submit their safer chemicals to EPA for review and listing on the SCIL, which is updated at least once a year to reflect innovations in safer chemistry.