EPA encourages use of Safer Choice Products for spring cleaning

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently encouraged those undertaking spring cleaning projects to use cleaning products certified through its Safer Choice program, which are better for both environmental and public health.

The Safer Choice program currently encompasses more than 2,000 products that meet the EPA’s safer product standards. The agency enacted the program to make it easier for individuals and businesses to find products that are more conducive to public health and that are less toxic to fish and aquatic life. Safer Choice certified products are more easily broken down in the environment and are therefore less likely to contaminate the food chain and the ecosystem that they enter.

“EPA’s Safer Choice program helps consumers find products that are productive and contain ingredients that are safer,” EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin said. “Products that carry the Safer Choice label have been carefully evaluated by EPA scientists to ensure they contain ingredients that are safer for both humans and environmental health.”

Safer Choice products can be found at many retail stores and are used at businesses including schools, hotels, offices and sports venues.