Safer Choice
For a Safer Environment
EPA Safer Choice
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice label, previously known as the Design for the Environment label, helps consumers and commercial buyers identify and select products with safer chemical ingredients, without sacrificing quality or performance. When a product has the Safer Choice label, it means that every intentionally-added ingredient in the product has been evaluated by EPA scientists. Only the safest possible functional ingredients are allowed in products with the Safer Choice label.
The Safer Choice Program evaluates each ingredient in a formulation against the following Master and Functional-Class Criteria documents, as appropriate. These documents define the characteristics and toxicity thresholds for ingredients that are acceptable in Safer Choice products.
The criteria are based on EPA expertise in evaluating the physical and toxicological properties of chemicals, and while they incorporate authoritative lists of chemicals of concern, they go far beyond these lists. Safer Choice applies the criteria using EPA research and analytical methods to ensure that Safer Choice products contain only the safest possible ingredients. All criteria documents are part of the Safer Choice Standard.
In addition to the product and ingredient criteria in the Safer Choice Standard, supplemental requirements are necessary to ensure that certain classes of products achieve best-in-class status and qualify to carry the Safer Choice label.