The Design for the Environment Safer Product Labeling Program advances EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment. The program uses EPA's chemical expertise and resources to carefully evaluate products and to label only those that have met the program's highly protective standards. By allowing use of the logo on products, EPA empowers consumers and commercial purchasers to select safer chemical products that do not sacrifice quality or performance —and are safer for people and the planet. Design for the Environment labels a variety of chemical-based products, like all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergents, and carpet and floor care products. Look for the Design for the Environment logo when you shop or procure products and join this national effort to protect human and environmental health.

EPA allows safer products to carry the Design for the Environment (DfE) label. This mark allows consumers to quickly identify and choose products that can help protect the environment and are safer for families.

When you see the DfE logo on a product it means that the DfE scientific review team has screened each ingredient for potential human health and environmental effects and that—based on the best currently available information, EPA predictive models, and expert judgment—the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class.

• Labeled Products and Our Partners
• Frequently Asked Questions

Product manufacturers who become Design for the Environment partners and earn the right to display the Design for the Environment logo on recognized products have invested heavily in research, development and reformulation, to ensure that their ingredients and finished product line up on the green end of the health and environmental spectrum, while maintaining or improving product performance.

The Design for the Environment label is recognized by retailers as a mark of environmental preferability. To consumers, the mark means that products are better for health and the environment.

• How to Partner, Get the DfE Label
• DfE Standard for Safer Cleaning Products (PDF) (31 pp., 177 K, about PDF )
• Partnership Agreement (PDF) (10 pp., 44 K, about PDF )
• DfE Criteria for Safer Chemical Ingredients
• CleanGredients® (database of safer ingredients)

Design for the Environment is an EPA program that distinguishes safer chemical products. EPA uses rigorous criteria to ensure that Design for the Environment-labeled products are safer for human health and the environment. The Design for the Environment label makes it easy for purchasers and users to quickly identify safer chemical products that do not sacrifice quality or performance.

Design for the Environment has approved more than 2,000 industrial and institutional products.

• Labeled Products and Our Partners
• DfE Standard for Safer Cleaning Products (PDF) (31 pp., 177 K, about PDF )