Product Safety & Innovation
Chemistry plays an essential role in the products and technologies we use every day, from vital ingredients in consumer products to raw materials in manufacturing processes.
ACC member companies are innovators – developing the products that are critical to advancing sustainability in our communities and around the world. Chemicals also need to be produced and used in ways that protect the health of people and the environment.
The chemical industry is taking steps to make products safer, make our manufacturing processes more stringent, and to be more transparent about what we are doing well and where we can improve. In developing new products and technologies, ACC members consider product safety and sustainable chemistry throughout the product innovation process. This means incorporating product safety assessments to identify hazards and potential risks early in the product development process, as well as reviewing existing product portfolios to identify opportunities to innovate products with improved safety profiles.
ACC members are committed to openly and transparently providing information about potential hazards and risks associated with the products they manufacture, to increase confidence in their safety.
Fast Facts: Science-based Product Safety Information
- Chemicals sold and used in the United States are highly regulated and subject to oversight by federal agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, among others. Any chemistry introduced or imported into the U.S. must undergo rigorous review and approval processes by government bodies, such as EPA and FDA.
- Information that supports chemical hazard and risk characterizations are submitted to government bodies and others across the globe prior to entering the marketplace in those countries. The hazard, exposure and risk information used either by these authorities to support chemical safety assessments are generally available in the public databases.
- ACC members have enhanced the Responsible Care® Product Safety Code to reiterate our efforts to continuously improve procedures to protect employees, and to provide greater transparency as we report on progress and hold each other accountable.
- ACC and its members work with product manufacturers, retailers and others along the value chain to share information about the safe, appropriate uses of chemicals and provide clear, transparent, science-based safety information about chemical ingredients in products.
- To help enhance scientific understanding of chemical safety, the chemical industry sponsors two primary scientific initiatives: the Long Range Research Initiative (LRI) promotes innovation in assessing chemical safety; while the Center for Chemical Safety Act Implementation helps advance knowledge about how chemicals interact with the body and the relationship between chemical exposure and safety.
ACC Member Contributions to Product Safety & Innovation
ACC members are committed to the safety of the products they manufacture, and providing transparent information about these products. Our companies are focused on innovating new products and materials that optimize sustainable chemistry approaches.
