WASHINGTON – Today, Sept. 18, as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to prevent pollution and empower people to find products with ingredients that are safer for public health and the environment, the agency launched an Outdoor Use Safer Choice label. This new label expands on EPA’s existing Safer Choice label and would identify outdoor use products — like pet care products, fire defense products, and car, boat, or grill cleaners — that meet additional EPA criteria to help protect the environment. 

“Washing our cars, barbeque grills, and even our dogs outdoors often means that the cleaning products we use go directly into the environment,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention Jennie Romer. “Safer Choice’s new label will help people find products that go the extra mile to protect the environment, giving consumers peace of mind when cleaning outdoors. By recognizing outdoor use formulations with safer ingredients that break down in the environment, this new label highlights another way that companies continue to develop chemicals that are safer for the planet to prevent pollution from the start.”

EPA scientists examine every ingredient — no matter its concentration — to make sure Safer Choice-certified products contain only the safest possible ingredients. With thousands of certified products, the Safer Choice label is a reliable way for people to find products whose chemical ingredients have met EPA’s criteria for being safer without sacrificing performance.

For products that are typically used outdoors, EPA’s Safer Choice program further requires that every ingredient breaks down quickly and has lower aquatic toxicity. Products such as all-purpose cleaners can also meet these additional criteria, even though they are typically used indoors.

Currently, more than 50 Safer Choice-certified products meet the additional criteria for outdoor use. EPA expects the Outdoor Use Safer Choice label to be on products as early as next year. Today, people can also find products that are Safer Choice-certified for outdoor use on the Safer Choice product search page by selecting the “Products with outdoor uses” box.

Safer Choice

Safer Choice encourages use of chemicals that meet EPA’s stringent criteria for human health and the environment and provides opportunities for companies to differentiate their products in the marketplace with the Safer Choice label. Visit the Safer Choice program website for more information.