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.

ChemFORWARD is pleased to announce the launch of a portfolio of safer alternatives to dimethylformamide. Clothing and shoe manufacturers including Nike have been eager for a less toxic replacement to the inexpensive, abundant and effective chemical, which has been used for decades to produce synthetic leather. ChemFORWARD has assembled complete chemical hazard assessments for 10 solvents that can be used instead of DMF.

ChemFORWARD and Apple are collaborating to develop criteria for cleaning products based on the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals and leverage our existing platform to support the sharing of high-quality, actionable chemical hazard data via our globally harmonized repository.

ChemFORWARD’s method of assessing chemical hazards and safer alternatives and GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals’ framework offer highly aligned and equivalent outputs. That’s according to a detailed comparison of results from applying the two methods that ToxServices’ Jennifer Tanir presented at the 2021 Society of Toxicology’s Annual Meeting last month.

“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 applauds Toxic Free Future’s fifth Retailer Report Card, highlighting the great work by leaders in safer chemistry including the report card’s two A+ grades, earned by ChemFORWARD Co-design Partners Apple Inc., and Target Corp., along with Sephora, with an A grade representing the list’s biggest improvement over time.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is one of the world’s most innovative in sustainability, leading initiatives on clean energy and no carbon footprint and working to source 100 percent recycled materials. The company’s Smarter Chemistry efforts include regulated substances specifications, toxicological assessments of materials selected for Apple products, and a protocol for prioritizing chemicals of concern in the electronics industry.

“This partnership with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition will not only help support companies seeking the material building blocks that will make packaging safe for humans and the environment across the product life cycle; it will seek to identify and activate the supply chain drivers to create lasting systems change,” said ChemFORWARD Executive Director Stacy Glass.

“Adding The Dirty List™ to our globally harmonized repository of safer alternatives makes it even easier for brands, formulators, and other decision-makers in beauty and personal care to eliminate chemicals of concern, avoid regrettable substitutions, and design safer from the beginning,” said Stacy Glass, ChemFORWARD’s executive director. “By strengthening our work with the partnership of a leader like Credo’s, we can make even more progress toward ending toxic chemical exposure and advancing health equity.”