NEWS
know better chemistry
A New Easy-to-Adopt Framework for "Forever Chemicals" Management
In a significant move for sustainable chemistry, Google has integrated pfasID.org into its 2025 Restricted Substances Specification.
Z2Data's robust supplier and component databases, combined with ChemFORWARD's Chemical Hazard Data Trust, resulted in a proactive tool that turns compliance data into actionable insights.
At the upcoming Society of Toxicology (SOT) 65th Annual Meeting, leaders from the science-based nonprofit ChemFORWARD will present a data-driven solution aimed at accelerating the adoption of safer chemistry in household and industrial cleaners.
Using the latest science to solve the "Persistent and Mobile" challenge
As the global push to eliminate "forever chemicals" and other chemicals of concern intensifies, many companies are racing to find safer alternatives. But there is a previously hidden risk: Mobility. Chemicals may be "Persistent,Mobile, and Toxic" or “Very Persistent and Very Mobile”.These chemicals can reach and contaminate drinking water—leading to the same health, regulatory and reputational nightmares we see with PFAS today.
Today, ChemFORWARD announced a significant enhancement to the Chemical Hazard Data Trust with the introduction of the "Impurities of High Concern" flag to Chemical Hazard Assessments (CHAs). This new feature is designed to provide greater visibility into the hidden risks associated with common process-related or other known impurities, enabling users to make more informed decisions when selecting safer alternatives.
ChemFORWARD is pleased to announce that Grace Campbell has joined our team as our Research Scientist, Data & Analytics.
A groundbreaking initiative is bridging the gap between the classroom and the chemical industry. NextGenChem, a new educational program launched by ChemFORWARD and Beyond Benign, is equipping college students with professional-grade tools to design safer products and accelerate the transition to sustainable chemistry.
ChemFORWARD today announced the introduction of the Chemical Hazard Data Trust, a groundbreaking public interest initiative designed to transform access to reliable chemical hazard information and accelerate the global transition to safer, more sustainable products.
PFAS management is often treated as a matter of compliance: check the lists, confirm whether a chemical appears, and move forward if it doesn’t. But as PFAS definitions evolve and regulatory frameworks struggle to keep pace with chemical innovation, list-based screening alone is no longer sufficient to prevent risk.
The global challenge of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)—the persistent "forever chemicals"—can feel overwhelming.
They are ubiquitous and persistent, and removing them from the environment is often complex and prohibitively expensive.
What if the most powerful step toward a cleaner future isn’t years of invention and innovation - but a simple, strategic action at the very beginning of your journey?
We're excited to announce the release of the new Planet Tracker report, "Toxic Additives: Analysing Product Portfolio Risk," which underscores the critical role of ChemFORWARD in bringing much-needed hazard transparency and safer alternatives to the plastics value chain.
The Know Better, Do Better (KBDB) Collaborative, an industry-led initiative managed by ChemFORWARD, today released the 2025 Beauty & Personal Care Ingredient Intelligence Report — a collaborative, data-driven benchmark for ingredient safety in beauty and personal care. Composed of members including Sephora, Ulta Beauty, The Honest Company, Credo Beauty, Counter, Inolex, and Dow, the KBDB Collaborative represents a rare coalition of retailers, brands, and suppliers working together to create the first standardized, data-driven benchmark for ingredient safety.
The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center’s (PPRC) Certification Assistance Program (CAP) and ChemFORWARD partnered to add new ingredients to the U.S. EPA Safer Choice Ingredients List (SCIL).
Today, ChemFORWARD announced new enhancements to their web-based platform that operationalize and integrate the application of OECD’s Guidance on Key Considerations for the Identification and Selection of Safer Chemical Alternatives.
Apple-Backed Initiative Unveils Supply Chain Transformation Tools to Accelerate Global Shift to Safer Cleaners and Degreasers
August 20, 2025 – Cleaners and degreasers are one of the highest use materials in electronics assembly. It is so critical that they be as safe as possible in their formulation and usage. In a bold step to safeguard the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of workers in the global electronics assembly industry, ChemFORWARD, in partnership with Apple, is proud to launch a dedicated application for cleaner and degreaser ingredient optimization. The free, web-based tool will help formulators rapidly replace high-hazard chemicals with safer, vetted alternatives thus reducing worker exposure.
ChemFORWARD is excited to announce the launch of its new Chemical Alternatives Finder. This significant enhancement will empower ChemFORWARD’s users to move beyond hazard identification and seamlessly integrate functionality into their chemical selection processes.
ChemFORWARD is proud to announce that Hong Lin has joined our team as a Program Manager - Industry Collaboratives. With her deep expertise in regulatory science and safer chemistry, Hong will be a key leader in driving the growth and impact of our cross-sector collaboratives.
ChemFORWARD, a science-based nonprofit advancing safer chemistry, today announced the expansion of its SAFER™ trade name ingredient registry. This expansion follows the success of its initial pilot program and incorporates industry-specific criteria, ensuring that safer alternative chemicals are identified in alignment with the unique safety needs of sectors such as beauty, electronics manufacturing, apparel, and more.
"By embracing collaboration and leveraging tools like the Chemical Hazard Data Trust and CleanScreen, we can ensure a more sustainable and safer tomorrow."
ChemFORWARD announced the launch of pfasID, a free web-based tool that simplifies the process of identifying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS. These “forever chemicals” are highly persistent in the environment and pose significant risks to human health.
DURHAM, NC - February 21, 2025 - ChemFORWARD has updated its Chemical Hazard Data Trust to reflect the recent changes to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL).
To win consumer and investor confidence in circularity, we need to systematically eliminate chemicals of concern in the materials used in everyday products.
Change Chemistry, ChemFORWARD, and Safer Chemistry Impact Fund are collaborating to start this conversation in earnest by convening this dedicated workshop to share progress on safer chemistry and identify opportunities to accelerate safe and sustainable design.
Chemical Hazard Data Trust Helps Companies Replace Toxic Chemicals with Safer Alternatives to Reduce Human and Environmental Harm
A significant step forward in maintaining high-quality data that is scientifically accurate, comprehensive, and representative of current research and best practices
ChemFORWARD, a non-profit organization committed to advancing safer chemistry, announced today that Heather McKenney, Science and Safer Chemistry Lead for the organization, has been appointed to the prestigious Green Ribbon Science Panel (GRSP) by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The GRSP is composed of preeminent scientists and technical experts who provide advice and input on critical green chemistry and chemicals policy matters to support the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Program. The first meeting for McKenney will take place in Sacramento, California on December 10th and 11th.
New report quantifies the use of safer chemistry in consumer products, moving beyond “bad lists” to set a new standard for accountability
ChemFORWARD released the first "Beauty & Personal Care Ingredient Intelligence Report.” The report, which analyzed 8,500 products, showcases the groundbreaking collaboration among major beauty retailers, brands, and ingredient suppliers, including Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Credo, Beautycounter, The Honest Company, Inolex, and Dow, to define a standard for safer chemistry and measure progress.
Safer Chemistry
in the News
At the upcoming Society of Toxicology (SOT) 65th Annual Meeting, leaders from the science-based nonprofit ChemFORWARD will present a data-driven solution aimed at accelerating the adoption of safer chemistry in household and industrial cleaners.
ChemFORWARD today announced the introduction of the Chemical Hazard Data Trust, a groundbreaking public interest initiative designed to transform access to reliable chemical hazard information and accelerate the global transition to safer, more sustainable products.
The global challenge of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)—the persistent "forever chemicals"—can feel overwhelming.
They are ubiquitous and persistent, and removing them from the environment is often complex and prohibitively expensive.
What if the most powerful step toward a cleaner future isn’t years of invention and innovation - but a simple, strategic action at the very beginning of your journey?
We're excited to announce the release of the new Planet Tracker report, "Toxic Additives: Analysing Product Portfolio Risk," which underscores the critical role of ChemFORWARD in bringing much-needed hazard transparency and safer alternatives to the plastics value chain.
Today, ChemFORWARD announced new enhancements to their web-based platform that operationalize and integrate the application of OECD’s Guidance on Key Considerations for the Identification and Selection of Safer Chemical Alternatives.
ChemFORWARD is excited to announce the launch of its new Chemical Alternatives Finder. This significant enhancement will empower ChemFORWARD’s users to move beyond hazard identification and seamlessly integrate functionality into their chemical selection processes.
Perspectives
Every chemical should have hazard data publicly available. Hazard is an inherent property of an ingredient, and refers to its ability to cause harm, whereas exposure is how you come into contact with the chemical. (Hazard + exposure = risk)
Consumers and producers often assume that “natural” means “safe,” sometimes without adequate information. Beauty Matter has published this article by ChemFORWARD, examining the rapidly growing field of botanical ingredients.
“Clean” has grown to dominate the growth in the beauty sector, with prestige beauty brands claiming to be clean surging 39 percent in 2019 and doubling their share of high-end skincare sales in the last four years.
ChemFORWARD Executive Director Stacy Glass sat down to talk with Boma Brown-West, director of consumer health at Environmental Defense Fund. Brown-West is an engineer who works at the intersection of science, policy and corporate leadership to drive safer products in the retail marketplace. Glass leads a nongovernmental organization working to provide a shared database of chemical hazards and safer alternatives, allowing companies to use better information to make safer products.
This roadmap is a clear framework for companies making clean beauty claims to restore and build confidence in their products. It equips them to move beyond the practice of claiming to be “free of” a group of hazards or restricted substances -- no matter how extensive -- and instead offer the credible assurance that ingredients have been thoroughly and credibly assessed and found to be free of hazards.
ChemFORWARD’s team of seasoned safe-chemistry pioneers built this platform to offer an easy way to create safer beauty and personal care products which demonstrate leadership in this industry. The tool offers a simple, intuitive, and affordable route to eliminating chemicals of concern, avoiding regrettable substitutions, and designing safer from the beginning.
Bartlett has worked with ChemFORWARD as a consultant and verifier and will now add this leadership role to those duties. He will help ChemFORWARD advance the development and adoption of its platform as well as provide valuable judgment to ChemFORWARD’s unique verification and technical dispute resolution process, ensuring the highest quality data makes it onto the platform.
ChemFORWARD hosted a series of virtual coffee breaks featuring leaders from clean Beauty and Personal Care. These 30-minute sessions offered a targeted introduction to ideas you’ll want to explore further along with meaningful, provocative conversation.
Announcements
A New Easy-to-Adopt Framework for "Forever Chemicals" Management
In a significant move for sustainable chemistry, Google has integrated pfasID.org into its 2025 Restricted Substances Specification.
At the upcoming Society of Toxicology (SOT) 65th Annual Meeting, leaders from the science-based nonprofit ChemFORWARD will present a data-driven solution aimed at accelerating the adoption of safer chemistry in household and industrial cleaners.
ChemFORWARD today announced the introduction of the Chemical Hazard Data Trust, a groundbreaking public interest initiative designed to transform access to reliable chemical hazard information and accelerate the global transition to safer, more sustainable products.
Today, ChemFORWARD announced new enhancements to their web-based platform that operationalize and integrate the application of OECD’s Guidance on Key Considerations for the Identification and Selection of Safer Chemical Alternatives.
ChemFORWARD is proud to announce that Hong Lin has joined our team as a Program Manager - Industry Collaboratives. With her deep expertise in regulatory science and safer chemistry, Hong will be a key leader in driving the growth and impact of our cross-sector collaboratives.
ChemFORWARD announced the launch of pfasID, a free web-based tool that simplifies the process of identifying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS. These “forever chemicals” are highly persistent in the environment and pose significant risks to human health.