Inolex, in partnership with ChemFORWARD, has verified 41 products as SAFER™ with an additional four materials in the evaluation phase. This achievement makes Inolex the leading beauty and personal care ingredient company fully committed to assessing and verifying its ingredient safety claims through ChemFORWARD’s comprehensive platform.

“Inolex is a true leader among ingredient suppliers with a public commitment to vet its products thoroughly against a global standard of safety and transparency. They are an important partner in our mission to ensure that all chemicals entering commerce are well characterized and support safe and sustainable design,” said Stacy Glass, Executive Director of ChemFORWARD.

Since launching the program in March of 2022, ChemFORWARD’s approved assessor network has verified over 70 ingredients by trade name, representing 10 organizations in the chemical industry. Dozens more ingredients are in the process of being verified.

SAFER™, a safety-focused third-party program, aims to verify and amplify safer chemical alternatives and close data gaps throughout the supply chain. This is accomplished by utilizing a robust and transparent database of chemical hazard assessments and a unique data sharing model that creates broad, cost-effective access. The SAFER™ program is setting a global industry standard with rigorous disclosure rules and comprehensive human and environmental criteria.

“The ease of the program’s process and digital infrastructure allows for timely assessments of our ingredients,” said Katie Sminkey, Product Stewardship Manager at Inolex. “Being able to share our chemical hazard data in a central repository that bridges suppliers, brands, and retailers aligns with our sustainability mission to hold our products to the highest standards through a holistic, transparent, and verified approach.”

ChemFORWARD’s shared data repository and the third-party SAFER™ program offers new tools for the Inolex product stewardship team to help equip brands with the safety, regulatory, and technical data required for assessing an ingredient for specific markets.

In addition to including the SAFER™ certification logo to all its verified products, Inolex has made SAFER™ by ChemFORWARD a searchable product filter on its website, allowing brands and retailers to easily identify these ingredients.

“Inolex provides a commonsense path for our customers to look at substances and the data available to make sound assessments. We work with our customers to best leverage all the data about an ingredient or determine if there is a need for additional studies,” said Sminkey.

According to Lisa Gandolfi, PhD, VP Marketing at Inolex, “ChemFORWARD’s assessment by trade name is a more accurate representation of an ingredient’s safety profile over INCI or chemical name because it considers additives, impurities, and residuals that are specific to sourcing, extraction methods, and manufacturing processes. It really is the future in transparency and ensuring safer chemistry.”