EPA Updates Safer Choice Program’s Ingredients List
On July 21, 2025, EPA added 18 chemicals to the Safer Chemicals Ingredients List (SCIL). The move may signal that the agency plans to continue the Safer Choice program, despite earlier speculation that the Trump administration might transition it to the private sector.
With the update, there are now 983 chemicals on the SCIL. The list is designed to help manufacturers find safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals. Products that meet the criteria of the Safer Choice program are eligible to carry the “Safer Choice” label. The SCIL can be found here.
The voluntary program was targeted for elimination by the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” initiative. However, industry groups such as the American Cleaning Institute urged the Trump administration to retain it.
In a press release announcing the update, EPA states that the additions “support[] Administrator Zeldin’s commitment to transparency, innovation and safer chemistry.” The agency also notes that using existing SCIL-listed chemicals can help companies avoid delays tied to the approval of new substances—an acknowledgment of industry concerns about the backlog in EPA’s review process.
“Without an approval from EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act, new chemistries don’t make it to market, which simultaneously holds back the manufacturing and innovation sectors and keeps older chemistries in regulation,” the release states.
The 18 additions represent a variety of functional classes, including emollients, polymers, and surfactants. All but one are either verified or expected to be of low concern based on experimental and modelled data.
The exception, sodium polyphosphates, is only allowed as an oxidant stabilizer due to possible hazards. Its “yellow triangle” designation indicates that it is one of the safest chemicals available for its function, but that its function is in need of safer chemistry innovation.
Last year, EPA expanded the Safer Choice program by introducing sustainable packaging criteria and a Safer Choice Cleaning Service certification. More on that update can be found here.