ChemFORWARD, a science-based, nonprofit organization, announces "Know Better, Do Better," the first-of-its kind collaboration of industry-leading beauty companies Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Credo, Beautycounter, and The Honest Company, as well as ingredient designer Inolex and the global nonprofit organization Environmental Defense Fund. These stakeholders are banding together to promote the use of safer chemistry and improve chemical hazard data to enable informed decision making.

Heather McKenney Joins ChemFORWARD as Safer Chemistry Lead

ChemFORWARD Releases v1 Botanicals Hazard Assessment Methodology

ChemFORWARD would like to congratulate our Founder and Director of Science & Data Integrity, Lauren Heine, on her recent appointment as President of The Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment (A4).

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and ChemFORWARD recently shared the initial results from the Safe + Circular Materials Collaborative. This year-long supply chain collaboration explored the challenges of circular packaging and solutions to accelerate the transition to safer alternatives.

Five BASF plasticizers have met ChemFORWARD’s rigorous evaluation of human health and environmental criteria for preferred alternatives through the organization’s SAFER program.

As citizens and governments wake up to the plastic pollution problem, they’re turning to businesses to solve it. Reusable containers and packaging eliminate the need for single-use plastic and should be pursued as a primary solution.

Apple, Google, and ChemFORWARD join forces to drive support for safer flame retardants in the Electronics Sector

ChemFORWARD, in collaboration with Apple and Google, is pleased to announce the availability of a comprehensive set of chemical hazard assessments for phosphorus-based and other non-halogenated flame retardants used in electronics. The goal of this work is to help companies move away from flame retardants with known health and environmental concerns towards those that are well characterized and verified to be safer.

Lauren Heine, Ph. D., ChemFORWARD Co-Founder and Director of Science and Data Integrity, and Chris Bartlett, Ph.D, ChemFORWARD Lead Toxicologist, will be presenting at the Society of Toxicology 61st Annual Meeting and ToxExpo on Sunday, March 27th in San Diego, California.

When ChemFORWARD began in 2018 they knew one of the most pivotal moments would be transitioning their work from assessing single chemicals to assessing trade name materials. After all, if they wanted to transform the supply chain with safer chemistry, they would need to make it easy for formulators to find verified safer alternatives and easy for raw material suppliers to assess and verify their safer offerings. While it took three years and an unprecedented supply chain collaboration, that moment is here.

ChemFORWARD, a leader in creating broad access to chemical hazard data and safer alternatives, announced today the introduction of an exciting new program for raw material suppliers. ChemFORWARD’s SAFERTM program will verify their safer alternatives and amplify them as safer by trade name through leading B2B marketplaces. The program was co-designed with suppliers and retailers over the last two years to fill a critical gap in safety data.

ChemFORWARD's trusted, globally harmonized chemical hazard repository is helping brands, retailers, and investors gain new insights into what is known - and not known - about chemicals in their portfolios. It also provides a benchmark and clear actions for positive chemical management.

On November 3rd ChemFORWARD was part of the Resources and Tools to Accelerate Adoption of Safe and Sustainable Chemistry webinar in conjunction with ChemSec and Apple.

Chemical & Engineering News has published an insightful and detailed look at the PFAS, that are widely used in food packaging, exploring efforts to replace these environmentally persistent and sometimes toxic chemicals.

ChemFORWARD is honored to work with Target to provide access to high quality, actionable information about chemical hazards and safer alternatives to diverse and woman-owned businesses through the retailer’s B3P program.

The Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard, led by the Single Use Materials Decelerator, provides a single measuring stick to food packaging buyers who must weigh claims such as compostable, recyclable, low-carbon and sustainable.

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.

SF Environment has expanded the flexibility and usefulness of its pragmatic policy governing flame retardant chemicals. The agency will now accept ChemFORWARD methodology alongside GreenScreen scores to provide transparency around chemicals.