US EPA DFE / Safer Choice
Though I compiled this information for a study on greenwashing and laundry detergent, the information pertaining to the label and certification may extend into other types of products. When in doubt, be an informed consumer and read, read, read! I try to link and reference all of my findings. - Janna
The United State's Environmental Protection Agency started the Design for the Environment (DFE) label in 1992 and became the Safer Choice label in 2015 February. The requirements did not change with the design, and some products still carry the older label. (At the time of my study Purex Natural Elements still had the DFE label (2015 November). However, the label is now a small family of labels, denoting various uses.
To achieve this certification each ingredient must have a function, and those ingredients should have the lowest hazard in their function class, while formulating a high-performance product. Choice focuses its review of formulation ingredients on the key (environmental and human health) characteristics of concern within a functional class (EPA, 2012).
Chemicals are reviewed for acute mammalian toxicity, carcinogenicity, genetic toxicity, neurotoxicity, repeated dose toxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, respiratory sensitization, skin sensitization, environmental toxicity and fate, and eutrophication (EPA, 2012)
The standard consumer mark and the label for institutional and industrial products differs in the latter having a round top instead of a house. Products may also receive a version denoting it is Fragrance-Free. Fragrance-Free means:
1) the product only contains ingredients on or eligible for the Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL)—the program’s list of ingredients that meet our safer chemical criteria and are generally acceptable for use in Safer Choice labeled products— and 2) the product does not contain chemicals on the International Fragrances Association (IFRA) Transparency List of fragrance chemicals intended to impart or mask a scent. The product mat still have an odor. - EPA
Common products with this label: Costco Kirkland Signature, Safeway Bright Green, Seventh Generation Natural Concentrated, Clorox Green Works 95%, Target Up & Up.
Devilish Details:
Seventh Generation holds both the Safer Choice label and a Leaping Bunny label. The EPA's chemical testing requires animal testing (example: Repeated dose toxicity: OPPTS Harmonized Guideline 870.3150: 90-Day oral toxicity in nonrodents [39]). According to Leaping Bunny, a bunny on a label may only refer to the finished product. Leaping Bunny certification requires that no new animal testing be used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or ingredient suppliers (LeapingBunny, 2014).
Sources:
US EPA (2012). EPA’s Safer Choice Program Master Criteria for Safer Ingredients.
http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2013-12/documents/dfe_master_criteria_safer_ingredients_v2_1.pdf
US EPA (2015). Safer Choice Master Criteria for Safer Chemical Ingredients.
http://www2.epa.gov/saferchoice/safer-choice-master-criteria-safer-chemical-ingredients
Leaping Bunny (2014). Myths & Facts. http://www.leapingbunny.org/content/myths-facts
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