KBDB report finds 76% of magnificence substances secure

The Know Higher, Do Higher (KBDB) Collaborative, an initiative of ChemFORWARD, a non-profit centered on shopper publicity to poisonous chemical compounds, has launched its 2025 Magnificence & Private Care Ingredient Intelligence Report. The Collaborative, whose members embody Sephora, Ulta Magnificence, The Sincere Firm, and Dow, has expanded the scope of this yr’s evaluation from final yr’s baseline report: researchers analyzed greater than 48,000 merchandise and 1.25 million disclosed substances, a five-fold improve in knowledge since 2023.

For key takeaways from the report, together with a breakdown of its findings and methods the {industry} can proceed to construct efforts to enhance ingredient security in magnificence and private care merchandise, we interviewed Invoice Walsh, Director, Safer Chemistry Influence Fund, Heather McKenney, Science & Safer Chemistry Lead, ChemFORWARD, and Stacy Glass, Co-founder and Govt Director, ChemFORWARD for his or her insights.

CDU: The 2025 report exhibits that 76% of substances at the moment are characterised for security, up from 70% in 2023. How important is that this stage of progress for producers and suppliers, and what does it sign in regards to the {industry}’s general dedication to safer chemistry?

Invoice Walsh: This progress is critical in not less than 3 ways. First, it demonstrates a gentle dedication to buyer well-being past mere regulatory compliance and facilities on safer chemistry as a part of normal working process for trusted manufacturers on this enterprise.

Second, closing the ingredient data hole would require too nice a monetary dedication for any single firm to undertake. Ideally, chemical suppliers would normally embody hazard knowledge on the formulations they supply to the market.

Till they achieve this, nonetheless, it’s important that these manufacturers have made clear that uncharacterized substances are unacceptable, and have pioneered a pre-competitive collaboration for accelerating the tempo of analysis and reporting year-over-year outcomes.

Third, sharing the chemical hazard assessments they’ve commissioned within the Chemical Hazard Knowledge Belief makes this data actionable industry-wide.

Heather McKenney: On the identical time, it’s not practically sufficient progress. Whereas important progress has been made in characterizing substances and lowering the usage of chemical compounds of concern, alternatives stay, significantly with regard to uncharacterized substances (24% of all substances).

By nature, uncharacterized chemical compounds can’t be thought-about safer chemistry since their hazards are unknown. The trail ahead is evident: the BPC {industry} should speed up the elimination of problematic substances, prioritize evaluation of uncharacterized substances, and proceed to spend money on shared, high-quality chemical hazard assessments to profit the whole worth chain.

The progress to this point does show that by working collectively, provide chains can quickly shut the knowledge hole and create a safer, extra clear {industry} for everybody.

CDU: Regardless of the progress, practically 1 / 4 of all substances stay uncharacterized. Out of your perspective, what are the most important limitations stopping full ingredient characterization, and the way can suppliers higher collaborate with manufacturers and retailers to shut these knowledge gaps?

Stacy Glass: There are three issues. First, altering the narrative. The {industry} is basically nonetheless working from a spot of regulation and restricted substances. What the report demonstrates is a major change within the narrative: It’s now attainable to maneuver past laws and restricted substances lists within the pursuit of safer substances and clear magnificence.

Shoppers and traders alike can count on and will insist upon science-based, data-driven reporting of ingredient security on each human and environmental impacts, which was simply not attainable earlier than.

Second, a historic lack of collaboration on this area. “Many fingers make mild work,” particularly after we are making a shared dataset to allow the transition to safer chemistry. The extra firms that contribute to the work of populating the shared Chemical Hazard Knowledge Belief, the sooner this part of characterization will go.

We’re taking part in catch-up now to fill the data gaps, however we will think about a day when human and environmental hazard knowledge are available and all new substances getting into the market are properly characterised for human and environmental impacts from the start.

Lastly, provider management. Suppliers are in the very best place to know and assess substances within the formulations they supply to manufacturers. It needs to be normal working process for suppliers to offer this data.

On this collaboration, we’ve got two nice examples highlighted within the report – one from Dow and one from Inolex. Each firms have executed the onerous work of getting dozens of their commerce identify substances assessed by a rigorous third-party course of to confirm their security.

Main suppliers can proactively have their commerce identify substances assessed and distinguish themselves within the market with verified safer claims.

CDU: The report identifies lingering points with sure ingredient courses, akin to artificial dyes in lip colour or emollients in moisturizers. The place do you see the best alternatives for innovation to exchange these high-hazard substances with out compromising product efficiency or shopper expectations?

Heather McKenney: There exists a chance to innovate alternate options to organochlorine and organobromine colorants that meet efficiency standards.

The development of extra high-hazard chemical compounds was solely noticed in lip colour, so a give attention to revolutionary colorants used to attain lip colour benchmarks may assist speed up the adoption of safer chemistry in a product kind that’s anticipated to be of elevated publicity on account of incidental ingestion. With colour cosmetics, exploring combos of pigments to attain the identical benchmark could also be an choice.

Our high-level evaluation of emollients confirmed that a number of practical emollients are in excessive use and will provide innovation alternatives. Significantly, cyclic silicones akin to cyclopentasiloxane or cyclomethicone had been utilized in 14.6% of merchandise within the dataset.

Additional evaluation would have to be performed to investigate which performance these supplies impart per product, as makes use of vary from pores and skin conditioning to spreadability to quick-dry, and innovation ought to comply with perform whereas additionally lowering hazard. The Inolex materials case research within the report highlights an instance of an revolutionary different to cyclomethicone to be used in pores and skin and haircare purposes.

CDU: The report notes that traders are paying nearer consideration to chemical administration practices in provide chains. How are regulatory, investor, and shopper pressures converging to form ingredient choice and product improvement methods in 2025 and past?

Invoice Walsh: The wonder and private care sector is present process a profound transformation pushed by a surging demand for safer substances. This shift is accelerated by a confluence of heightened shopper and investor consciousness, evolving regulatory frameworks, persistent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) advocacy, and strategic innovation by main manufacturers.

One concrete instance of that is the choice of KBDB Collaborative members’ acknowledgement that market development for “clear” merchandise has outpaced formal definitions for “clear,” resulting in ambiguous claims and shopper confusion.

With this report, they’re making a dedication that “clear” is clearly outlined, tracked, and quantified by ingredient transparency, hazard characterization based mostly on complete toxicology, and validated with third-party analysis and reporting

The marketplace for “clear magnificence” is evolving, underscoring the necessity for mainstream adoption and long-term trajectory of the science, metrics, and verification to underpin a clear market.

This report affirms that the journey towards full ingredient characterization is achievable. The mannequin of conducting ingredient audits, investing in chemical hazard assessments, and phasing out high-hazard chemical compounds is a transparent pathway for the {industry} to transition to safer chemistry and measure its outcomes.

The Know Higher, Do Higher Collaborative’s work serves as a profitable mannequin that may be scaled, proving that shared knowledge and collaboration are highly effective instruments for driving security and knowledgeable decision-making whereas lowering model and investor danger.

CDU: The KBDB Collaborative brings collectively retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers, an strategy that’s nonetheless comparatively uncommon on this sector. What do you see as the important thing benefits (and challenges) of such a pre-competitive collaboration for driving systemic change in ingredient security and transparency?

Stacy Glass: For members of the Know Higher, Do Higher Collaborative, “clear” is clearly outlined, tracked, and quantified by ingredient transparency, hazard characterization based mostly on complete toxicology, and validated with third-party analysis and reporting. A harmonized, science-based definition of “clear” supplies formulation and declare help.

The Collaborative’s Constitution is predicated on the idea that lack of expertise on chemical security is unacceptable and members have dedicated to collaboratively pursuing chemical hazard assessments—a course of known as characterization—to completely perceive human and environmental impacts.

Collaborative members measure progress in the usage of complete chemical hazard assessments (CHAs) and knowledge analytics to quantify the usage of safer chemistry, establish chemical compounds of concern past laws, and prioritize uncharacterized chemical compounds for funding in CHAs. By sharing anonymized, aggregated knowledge, every member can observe developments in chemical use and hazards on a scale a lot bigger than their particular person group.

Collaborative members profit from important price and time financial savings as members acquire entry to all chemical hazard knowledge within the system, no matter which group sponsored the chemical hazard evaluation. This permits extra speedy, safer chemistry decision-making, together with the event of data-driven chemical administration insurance policies.

Collaborative members are early adopters of this strategy, and thus are looking for broader adoption of this strategy to attain the change they search available in the market. This group is transferring past regulatory compliance and restricted substances lists, which can pose provide chain challenges when looking for verified, safer alternate options. Moreover, with any new benchmark, understanding and buy-in inside and throughout organizations will take time.

CDU: On condition that safer chemistry is each a scientific and enterprise crucial, what actionable steps ought to suppliers and producers take now to align with this rising benchmark and stay aggressive in a market more and more outlined by ingredient transparency?

Heather McKenney: Essentially the most environment friendly and efficient step could be for suppliers, who’re in the very best place to know and tackle chemical hazards of their formulations, to offer standardized and independently verified chemical hazard assessments for the merchandise they promote into the BP&C market.

Suppliers particularly ought to pursue commerce identify evaluation for safer supplies. The SAFER commerce identify designation exists to evaluation commerce names, as advanced mixtures, in the marketplace to offer a conveyable declare for potential consumers, thus expediting the identification of safer supplies for formulators: a win-win!

For manufacturers, first conduct an Ingredient Intelligence Report—a full stock of the chemical compounds used of their merchandise—to grasp what is thought and what’s not. From this baseline, undertake insurance policies, set up an motion plan, and decide to time-bound objectives for addressing high-hazard chemical compounds and uncharacterized chemical compounds. This is step one in proactive chemical administration.

Subsequent, set objectives and measure progress towards these objectives. This report supplies 4 key metrics that can be utilized by particular person firms:

1. Proportion of characterization;
2. Proportion of verified safer chemistry;
3. Proportion of chemical compounds of excessive concern, and
4. Proportion of uncharacterized chemical compounds.

These metrics may be reported yr over yr to trace progress towards safer chemistry.

Lastly, spend money on characterization and the pursuit of verified safer alternate options. Firms ought to spend money on uncovering safer alternate options by characterization, and when safer alternate options don’t exist, spend money on growing safer chemical alternate options and create incentives for his or her suppliers to do the identical. This helps to drive innovation and meet rising market and regulatory calls for for safer merchandise.