EPA's label for safer cleaning products

The Safer Choice label is EPA's mark for cleaning and other everyday products made with safer chemical ingredients. Companies join the program voluntarily. A product has to meet the Safer Choice Standard to carry the label, and EPA keeps auditing it after that. Nearly 2,000 products qualify.

What the label means

• Every ingredient is reviewed. Before a product can carry the label, EPA reviews every chemical in it, however small the amount. Each one has to meet safety criteria for people and the environment, including cancer risk, harm to reproduction and development, toxicity to fish and other aquatic life, and how long it lasts in the environment.
• It has to work. Each product must pass performance standards for its category and clean comparably to a regular product.
• The pH is limited. Labeled products must meet pH limits that keep skin and eye irritation down.
• VOCs are limited. Safer Choice restricts volatile organic compounds, which pollute indoor air and can affect breathing.
• The packaging is reviewed. Partners have to take steps toward more sustainable packaging.

The other versions of the label

• Fragrance-free. A separate label marks Safer Choice products made without fragrance.
• Outdoor use. Another marks products that meet extra environmental criteria for use outdoors.
• For businesses. An optional version appears on products made for offices, schools and other buildings.

Where to find labeled products

EPA's Safer Choice site lists certified products by type, including all-purpose cleaners, dish soaps, floor cleaners, laundry products, tub and tile cleaners and car care products. It also lists disinfectants certified under EPA's Design for the Environment program.

An annotated example

What to do next

Look at the back of the cleaners you already have for the Safer Choice label. EPA's Safer Choice site lists the certified products by type. Using disinfectants safely at home covers the registration number and contact time on a disinfectant.