ChemFORWARD Releases v1 Botanicals Hazard Assessment Methodology

A year-long multi-stakeholder process provides guidance for comparing traditional chemicals and botanical substitutions.

Today, ChemFORWARD released a v1 Botanicals Assessment Methodology based on multi-stakeholder input and over 12 months of development, testing, and comment period.  The methodology was developed to create an efficient, yet comprehensive way to characterize the hazard profile of botanical ingredients and allow for comparison to other chemicals in the product design process, while looking for potential safer alternatives.

More and more, companies are using comprehensive chemical hazard assessments (CHAs) to inform proactive chemical management, eliminate chemicals of high concern, avoid regrettable substitution and design with verified safer chemicals from the beginning. 

Dr. Lauren Heine, Co-Founder and Director of Science at ChemFORWARD explains why CHA’s are needed to ensure safety, “It takes a lot more information to prove that a chemical is inherently safe than it does to prove that it is toxic. Just knowing that a chemical is a known carcinogen or that it causes skin sensitization can be enough to rule it out as a good candidate for product applications. But to be sure that it is inherently benign for its intended use means that data gaps must be filled across multiple human and environmental endpoints. A lack of hazard data does not mean that a chemical is inherently benign.” 

ChemFORWARD hosts an online repository for chemical hazard assessments (CHAs) designed to aid users in identifying and selecting safer alternatives. The established methods for hazard classification such as the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) and Cradle to Cradle Certified’s Material Health Methodology provide guidance for the classification of hazards on 21 human and environmental impacts. These methods work well for traditional chemicals, but challenges still remain in addressing other classes of chemicals, specifically polymers and botanicals.  

Uncharacterized Botanicals

Many beauty and personal care brands are formulating with botanical ingredients as natural, safer alternatives, and using those materials to drive safety and sustainability claims. The use of new plant-derived substances is growing much faster than the industry’s capacity to fully understand the impact these can have on the health and safety of workers, consumers, and the natural environment.

The principal challenge posed by botanicals is that, in contrast to synthetic conventional chemicals, botanicals often contain dozens of compounds, which can vary with the source and are influenced by seasons, geography and extraction processes. This magnifies the complexity of assessing their effects and interactions. A standardized approach to assessing botanical materials that is comparable to how conventional chemicals are assessed is imperative to allow for the evaluation of safer substitutions. 

The lack of hazard data for many botanicals creates the potential for regrettable substitution and risk to clean beauty claims. Botanicals are often assumed to be safer than traditional chemicals, but that is not always the case. Botanical materials can be potent skin sensitizers, carcinogens, and endocrine disruptors. With this new botanicals assessment method ChemFORWARD aims to fill data gaps on beauty and personal care ingredients, to help substantiate clean beauty claims, and to help standardize those claims and consumer expectations.

The Method

The v1 Botanicals Assessment Methodology was developed to create an efficient, yet comprehensive way to characterize the hazard profile of botanical ingredients and allow for comparison to other chemicals in the product design process, while looking for potential safer alternatives.

The distinguishing features of the method include:

• Guidance to determine botanical composition prior to the safety assessment  - identifying the constituents in a complex mixture;  

• Comprehensive approach to evaluate individual hazard endpoints for botanical materials as complex mixtures; 

• Comparability with hazard assessments used for synthetic conventional chemicals; and 

• A refined approach to drawing insight from a history of safe use that is applied for specified exposure routes and concentrations. 

Pilot results were also published today in a paper authored by ChemFORWARD’s Director of Science and Lead Toxicologist  titled, ”New Botanicals Methodology Helps Fill Data Gaps and Improve Decision Making for Natural Ingredients”.

Generic vs Trade Name Assessments

As with synthetic conventional chemicals, generic hazard assessment information can be used to point toward potentially safer alternatives. But it is more reliable to assess substances by trade name because that includes accurate characterization of constituents and impurities. The ChemFORWARD SAFER program was designed to obtain full disclosure of constituents and impurities in tradename materials as part of the ChemFORWARD material assessment process. Once a generic botanical material has been identified as a potential safer alternative, suppliers can quickly and easily have their trade name ingredients evaluated through the SAFER program to provide a third-party verification that all substances in the ingredient are safe as formulated.

"Credo believes that ingredient-level data is crucial to creating clean skin care and beauty products—and some of the commonly used cosmetics ingredients with big data gaps happen to be plant derived.  We need to know more about all substances used in the beauty industry, regardless of their source. This is why Credo is proud to be a Co-Design partner of ChemFORWARD, and to see the organization kick off its work on plant-based ingredients," said Mia Daivs, VP of Sustainability & Impact, Credo.  "Ideally, for every ingredient that we vet, I would like to see a trade name assessment that includes a hazard profile, source, extraction method, and a listing of impurities and residuals backed by testing. This is the best way to find high-quality, low hazard/low risk ingredients."

The v1 Botanical Hazard Assessment Methodology is publicly available on the ChemFORWARD website. Work will continue with brand and retailer partners in the coming months to establish a minimum dataset for botanicals and further refine the assessment approach.