EPA Safer Choice
Partner of the Year 2022, 2023, & 2024
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Certification Assistance Program (CAP)
CAP was managed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Pollution Prevention Resource Center, from 2021 through 2024, supporting the approval of new EPA Safer Choice products and ingredients.
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CAP provided technical assistance to 32 product and ingredient manufacturers, helping them understand and navigate the Safer Choice and CleanGredients certification processes, to ensure products and ingredients met the Safer Choice criteria for their intended use as a product (such as an all-purpose cleaner), or a functional ingredient (such as a surfactant or a solvent). CAP financially assisted 15 of these manufacturers with certification fees. ​
​CAP Project Results & Success Stories:
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Seven new certified products were added to the EPA Safer Choice Product Directory
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Ten additional products are in final approval stage and expected to be added to the Directory in 2025.
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Five products successfully achieved the three-year renewal to remain in the Directory.
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Fourteen new ingredients (with three more pending final approval) were added to the EPA Safer Choice Ingredients List (SCIL).
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Eight new tradename ingredients were added to Cleangredients.
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Success Story: CAP Partnership with ChemFORWARD Results in 14 New Ingredient Listings on EPA SCIL.
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Success Story: VirdivisTM Certifies a New Safer Choice Product for Food & Beverage Applications.
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Guidance Manual for the Safer Choice Certification Process
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Video: A Guide to the Basic Certification Steps to Obtain the Safer Choice Label
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(This project was funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement NP 02J20701 to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.)​
Finding Safer Choice Products
Safer products for cleaning and custodial operations are available through eco-labeled, or third-party certified products. Please see our informational video, available in both English and Spanish, on why and how to find safer products for specific functions, focusing on EPA Safer Choice products and EPA's Design for Environment (DfE) disinfectants. ​​