Cleaning Products: Understanding our Regulatory Agency.
One of the most important things to understand about cleaning products in the United States is that no single agency is fully responsible for their safety. Instead, several government groups share oversight depending on how a product is marketed. This can lead to less consistent regulation than many people assume.
For example, if a product claims to kill germs or disinfect, it must be reviewed and registered by the EPA before it can be sold. But many everyday cleaners — like laundry detergents or basic surface sprays — do not go through the same level of review. While companies must follow general chemical safety and labeling laws, most cleaning products do not require pre-market approval. Many commonly used ingredients have also remained in use for decades without being reassessed for long-term health or environmental impacts.
Programs like EPA Safer Choice help consumers identify products made with ingredients that have been reviewed for safer human and environmental outcomes, but participation is voluntary.
By contrast, countries like the United Kingdom and those in the European Union use more centralized and precautionary systems. These regulations require greater ingredient transparency and safety standards before products reach the market.
Understanding these differences can help you look beyond marketing claims and make more informed choices about the products you bring into your home.
Certifications You Can Trust
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One of the most trusted certifications in the U.S. for cleaning products. The EPA Safer Choice label means the product’s ingredients have been reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency and meet strict standards for safer human health and environmental impact.
Best for: everyday household cleaners, laundry, dish soap, sprays
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Green Seal certifies cleaning products that meet rigorous benchmarks for reduced toxicity, safer chemical ingredients, and environmental responsibility — while still performing effectively.
Best for: multi-purpose cleaners, institutional-grade products, detergents
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A science-based certification that evaluates the full environmental impact of a product, including ingredient safety, biodegradability, and sustainable manufacturing practices.
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MADE SAFE screens for a long list of known harmful or questionable chemicals, including endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, and developmental toxins. It’s one of the strictest ingredient-focused certifications available.
Best for: fragrance-free or health-focused home products
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EWG Verified products meet higher standards for ingredient transparency and health-based safety. This label is especially helpful for shoppers concerned about hidden irritants or undisclosed fragrance chemicals.
Best for: families with kids, sensitive households
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Leaping Bunny is the gold standard for ensuring that a company does not test its products or ingredients on animals at any stage of production.
Best for: ethical household and cleaning brands
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Certified products are tested to reduce allergens and irritants, making this label especially useful for households with asthma, eczema, or chemical sensitivities.
Best for: fragrance-sensitive homes, allergy-friendly cleaning
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This certification looks beyond ingredients to evaluate the full lifecycle of a product — including material health, recyclability, water stewardship, and ethical manufacturing.
Best for: sustainability-forward brands and packaging-conscious shoppers
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USDA Certified Biobased Product
This label indicates that a product contains a verified percentage of renewable, plant-based ingredients rather than petroleum-based chemicals.
Best for: eco-conscious sourcing, plant-based formulas
Because U.S. cleaning product regulations are often fragmented and allow broad marketing claims, one of the most reliable ways to evaluate household cleaners is to look for credible third-party certifications. These independent organizations review ingredients, safety, transparency, and environmental impact before allowing their seal on packaging.
Trusted programs such as EPA Safer Choice, MADE SAFE®, EWG Verified™, Green Seal®, and UL ECOLOGO® help identify products that meet higher standards for human and environmental health. Other certifications focus on lifecycle sustainability, animal welfare, or sensitivities, offering additional guidance depending on your household’s priorities.
While no certification is perfect, these labels provide a far more meaningful guide than vague terms like “green,” “natural,” or “non-toxic,” and can help you make safer, more informed choices for your home and long-term wellness.
What to Look For:
A Practical Guide to Skimming Labels
Ingredients lists can feel intimidating—especially when names are long or unfamiliar. But the goal isn’t to memorize chemicals or become an expert overnight. Instead, think of label reading as a quick scan for a few key signals. What’s doing the work? What’s supporting the formula? What’s added for scent or shelf life?
With a little practice, you can spot both green flags and red flags in just a few seconds.
Most products are made up of four main types of ingredients: active ingredients, supporting (or filler) ingredients, fragrance, and preservatives. Understanding these categories makes label reading much simpler.
Most cleaning products are built around one or two main ingredients that provide the intended function — whether that’s lifting dirt, cutting grease, removing stains, or disinfecting surfaces.
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Active Ingredients
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The product uses well-studied, lower-toxicity ingredients like plant-based surfactants, enzymes, citric acid, or hydrogen peroxide — and avoids unnecessary harsh additives.
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Red Flag: The formula relies on more aggressive chemicals such as chlorine bleach, ammonia, or certain disinfecting agents like quaternary ammonium compounds (“quats”), which can be irritating to the lungs and skin, especially with frequent indoor use.
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Common filler or base ingredients include:
Water (often listed first, especially in sprays and liquid cleaners)
Mild solvents like ethanol or plant-derived alcohols that help dissolve grease
Foaming agents and stabilizers that improve performance in detergents
Mineral salts or builders that help cleaning power in hard water
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Simple, clearly disclosed formulas that rely on lower-toxicity supporting ingredients like water, plant-based alcohols, enzymes, and biodegradable cleaning boosters.
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Products padded with unnecessary harsh additives such as synthetic dyes, petroleum-based solvents, or stronger chemical fillers like ethylene glycol, petroleum distillates, or high-VOC ingredients that can contribute to indoor air irritation.
Every cleaning product includes supporting ingredients that affect dilution, texture, shelf life, and how the formula sprays, foams, or rinses. These ingredients aren’t automatically bad — they often help a product work properly.
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Filler Ingredients
Fragrance is one of the biggest loopholes in cleaning product labeling. Many household products — from laundry detergent to surface sprays — add scent to create that “fresh” or “clean” smell.
The challenge is that fragrance is rarely just one ingredient. Brands can list “fragrance” or “parfum” as a single term, even though it may represent a complex mixture of dozens or even hundreds of undisclosed chemicals. Because these blends are considered trade secrets, consumers often have no way of knowing what’s actually inside.
While fragrance may seem like a small detail, it’s often the least transparent — and most chemically complex — part of a cleaning product.
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Fragrance
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Common fragrance-related chemicals may include:
Phthalates (often used to help scent last longer)
Synthetic musks
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to indoor air pollution
Known allergens and respiratory irritants
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Products labeled “fragrance-free” (not just “unscented”) or those scented only with clearly disclosed essential oils, ideally with full ingredient transparency.
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Products listing only “fragrance” with no further disclosure — especially heavily scented detergents, air “fresheners,” or cleaners containing strong irritants that can trigger headaches, asthma, or skin sensitivity.
Because many cleaning products contain water, they need preservatives to prevent the growth of bacteria, mold, or yeast — especially in liquids like surface sprays, dish soaps, and laundry detergents.
Preservatives aren’t automatically harmful. In fact, they often play an important role in keeping products stable and safe over time. The key is which preservatives are used, and whether they are well-tolerated for frequent household exposure.
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Preservatives
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Common preservative types include:
Organic acids like sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate
Alcohol-based preservatives in some plant-forward formulas
Isothiazolinones, a stronger class often used in industrial cleaners
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Products preserved with gentler, well-studied options like sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, or other lower-sensitizing systems — especially when the full ingredient list is disclosed.
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Products containing harsher preservatives such as methylisothiazolinone (MI) or methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI), which are common triggers for skin allergies and sensitivities, particularly in cleaning products used frequently around the home.
One of the most confusing parts of shopping for “clean” cleaning products is that many of the most common label claims are not legally defined or consistently regulated in the United States.
Words that sound reassuring often have no formal standard behind them — which means brands can use them freely, even when the formula still contains harsh or undisclosed ingredients.
Common unregulated marketing terms include:
Non-toxic
Natural
Green or eco-friendly
Chemical-free (everything is made of chemicals — even water)
Safe or family-safe
Plant-based (which may refer to only one ingredient in the formula)
These claims can be meaningful in some cases — but they are not a substitute for ingredient transparency or third-party verification.
Marketing Claims that aren’t regulated:
For busy moms and homeowners who want safer products — without the overwhelm.
If you’ve ever stood in the cleaning or beauty aisle wondering, “Is this actually safe for my family?”… you’re not alone.
Between work, kids, schedules, and everything else life throws your way, most of us don’t have time to research every ingredient or compare dozens of products. But the truth is, the products we use every day — in our homes, on our skin, and around our children — can impact our long-term health and the environment.
The good news? You don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
This free guide was created to help you:
✔️ Understand why certain ingredients matter
✔️ Make safer swaps at your own pace
✔️ Focus on what actually makes the biggest difference
✔️ Feel more confident about the products you bring into your home
Inside, you’ll also learn how to use simple, time-saving app. It allows you to scan products while you shop and instantly see safety ratings — no late-night Googling required.
This isn’t about perfection or throwing everything away. It’s about small, realistic changes that support your health, your home, and your family over time.