The Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL) is a list of chemical ingredients, arranged by functional-use class, that the Safer Choice Program has evaluated and determined to be safer than traditional chemical ingredients. This list is designed to help manufacturers find safer chemical alternatives that meet the criteria of the Safer Choice Program.
Before Safer Choice decides to include a chemical on the SCIL, a third-party profiler gathers hazard information from a broad set of resources, including the identification and evaluation of all available toxicological and environmental fate data. The third party profiler submits a report to Safer Choice, with a recommendation on whether the chemical passes the Criteria for Safer Chemical Ingredients. Safer Choice staff performs due diligence by reviewing the submission for completeness, consistency, and compliance with the Safer Choice Criteria. If more than one third-party has evaluated the chemical, Safer Choice also checks for differences in the profiles and resolves any conflicts. In some cases, Safer Choice may also perform additional literature reviews and consider data from confidential sources, such as EPA's New Chemicals Program. Safer Choice does not typically examine primary literature (original studies) as part of its review and listing decisions.
*All chemicals in the listing are among the safest for their functional use.
Green circle - The chemical has been verified to be of low concern based on experimental and modeled data.
Green half-circle - The chemical is expected to be of low concern based on experimental and modeled data. Additional data would strengthen our confidence in the chemical’s safer status.
Yellow triangle - The chemical has met Safer Choice Criteria for its functional ingredient-class, but has some hazard profile issues. Specifically, a chemical with this code is not associated with a low level of hazard concern for all human health and environmental endpoints. (See Safer Choice Criteria). While it is a best-in-class chemical and among the safest available for a particular function, the function fulfilled by the chemical should be considered an area for safer chemistry innovation.
Grey square - This chemical may not be acceptable for use in products that are candidates for the Safer Choice label and any currently certified products that contain it may need to reformulate per Safer Choice Compliance Schedules. Manufacturers are invited to provide information to justify continued listing of this chemical on SCIL and use in Safer Choice-certified products. Unless information provided to EPA adequately justifies continued listing, this chemical will be removed 12 months after grey square designation.
Note: Some functional class listings contain both green circle and yellow triangle chemicals because the yellow triangle chemicals fill a functional need not met by the available green circle chemicals. For example, yellow triangle preservatives are needed to meet the full range of antimicrobial efficacy, and yellow triangle solvents are needed to meet restrictions on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in certain product classes.