In the age of sustainability, ChemFORWARD is taking substantial steps to promote clean beauty. Gauri D. interacted with the members of ChemFORWARD and here are the details of the same.
Beauty industry is a multi-million dollar business worldwide. Every waking day, companies launch products with unique ingredients and chemical interactions. The chemical hazard data availability, however, has notable blindspots. In the US, a $91 billion industry does not require cosmetic chemicals to have hazard (or safety) data. The brands can launch their products with a unique set of ingredients onto the consumer market.
To bridge the gap between hazard data availability, ChemFORWARD came forth. ChemFORWARD is non-profit, science-based, data trust that is dedicated to creating broad access chemical hazards and safer alternatives. ChemFORWARD has made a remarkable effort in assessment of ingredients and data sharing on a broad spectrum to promote clean beauty. Content expertise, data analysis and the collective impact it has on humans is all studied. It is then consolidated and shared with the partners for future reference.
When spoken to the Stacy Glass, the co-founder and executive director about the commitment to this noble cause, this is what she said:
“Between 2021 and 2022, ChemFORWARD analyzed the ingredients in over 10,000 SKUs. The data was extracted from dozens of beauty brands and retailers. An aggregated Ingredient Intelligence Report was produced from this information. To generate the report all ingredients were run against ChemFORWARD’s shared chemical hazard assessment repository. The ingredients were assigned a harmonized hazard band (A, B, C, F, ?) based on human and environmental impacts.”
She further added, “Our aim is to provide clear, comparable data for chemical management reporting for each brand and retailer. The aggregate report provides key insights that led to the Know Better, Do Better Collaborative.”
These key insights are as follows:
- RSLs, chemical policies and other compliance activities work. High hazard chemicals (F’s) are not the leading story;
- We can quantify the use of safer chemistry. It signs an early shift from “free-of” to “safer” claims
- The safety of 45-50% of ingredients is unknown. Chemical hazard data is missing for these ingredients, creating business risk and potential backlash from consumers demanding safer ingredients
- For brands focused on clean beauty, 50% of these data gaps reflect botanical ingredients. An increasingly popular ingredient category presumed to be safer; this presumption of safety will elevate business risk as use increases
Brands, retailers, and suppliers are coming together to fill priority data gaps and populate a shared repository.
ChemFORWARD in support with its collaborators agree on the following points:
- Agree that ingredients with data gaps are unacceptable and that the issue is larger than any one company
- Commit to a joint effort to fill data gaps by investing in chemical hazard assessments
- Utilize a shared data repository that is accessible to all
- Encourage suppliers to assess their trade name ingredients.
Stacy says that all Beauty & Personal Care brands, retailers, and suppliers are welcome. And she encourages them to join this campaign to accelerate the adoption of verified safer chemistry in the supply chain.
Moreover, recently in a press release, ChemFORWARD announced the first-of-its-kind collaboration with industry-leading beauty companies. Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Credo, Beautycounter, and The Honest Company, as well as ingredient designer Inolex and the global nonprofit organization Environmental Defense Fund joined the forces. These stakeholders came together to promote safer chemistry and improved chemical hazard data. This is a big step towards informed decision making in the beauty industry.
Ulta Beauty and The Honest Company seniors spoke about this collaboration during the press release: “Ulta Beauty is excited to partner with the collaborative on this groundbreaking initiative that brings ingredient suppliers, brands and retailers together in service of safety and consistency for the entire beauty industry,” Ame Igharo, Senior Director Sustainability Strategy, Ulta Beauty.
Steve Winchell, EVP Supply Chain and R&D of The Honest Company also added, “Democratising hazard data is critical for accessibility to safer, more sustainable products. This joint work supports Honest’s thoughtful formulation choices while also helping to ensure the entire industry is making more informed, science-backed decisions.”