ChemForward unveils ‘Safer’ programme

ChemForward, a US specialist in chemical hazard data, has introduced its Safer programme, through which raw material suppliers can verify safer alternatives and market them by trade name on the B2B marketplaces of Novi Connect and ChemSec Marketplace, plus a data sharing relationship with Covalo.

This, the company said, “was co-designed with suppliers and retailers over the last two years to fill a critical gap in safety data”. Novi and ChemForward have also joined forces across shared retailer partnerships, including Target, Credo Beauty and Sephora, “to help formulators avoid regrettable substitutions and truly source safer alternatives”.

Safer uses a shared, globally harmonised repository of chemical hazard assessments (CHAs) to provide an assessment of a material, with the aims of staying ahead of regulations, ensuring human and environmental safety, and building trust through third-party verified transparency. It is thus claimed to be quicker than existing methods of finding CHAs, which are often expensive, inconsistent and/or housed on private systems.

“We have inherited a system where chemicals get free access to the market without being properly assessed for safety,” said Mike Davis, VP of sustainability and impact at Credo. “In the absence of regulation, data and third-party certifications to back up claims of safety, what we need is a non-profit solution that defines safer clearly and works with suppliers to assess ingredients and materials before we use them in products intended to be safer.”