Safer Chemistry Impact Fund Launches Universal Blueprint to Standardize Measurement of Safer Chemistry
New open-architecture framework gives companies, investors, and policymakers a common way to measure progress toward safer chemistry across products and supply chains
Washington, D.C. — Aug. 18, 2026 — Companies have long relied on standardized frameworks to measure carbon emissions. Until now, no comparable system has existed for measuring progress toward safer chemistry.
Today, the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund (SCI Fund) released the Safer Chemistry Impact Metrics Framework: A Universal Blueprint for Standardizing Chemical Footprinting and Reporting, an open-architecture framework designed to help organizations consistently measure chemical hazards across products and supply chains.
The Framework translates complex chemical inventory and hazard information into standardized metrics that companies can use to identify chemicals of concern, understand where information is missing, benchmark progress, and make better decisions about safer alternatives.
"Organizations can't solve a problem they can't measure," said Bill Walsh, Board Chair of the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund. "Companies are documenting impressive progress on carbon reduction because there are reliable ways to measure carbon emissions. This Framework gives organizations a comparable means of understanding chemical hazards, and a practical way to identify priorities, make better decisions, and measure progress toward safer chemistry."
The Framework was developed through collaboration among industry leaders, technical experts, investors, nonprofit organizations, and other stakeholders. It also reflects three years of practical implementation across the beauty and personal care, apparel and footwear, consumer electronics, and built environment sectors. Those real-world pilots demonstrated how standardized metrics can be applied across complex global supply chains.
Unlike a certification program or regulatory requirement, the Framework serves as a common foundation for measurement. It gives organizations a consistent way to characterize chemical hazards, identify information gaps, and report chemical footprint metrics. Those metrics can support product stewardship, sustainability reporting, procurement, target setting, and future standards development.
One of the Framework's core principles addresses the widespread problem of incomplete hazard information for many commonly used chemicals. Until data gaps are filled, chemicals cannot achieve a "safer" designation. This approach helps organizations identify data gaps, prioritize additional research, and reduce the risk of replacing one hazardous chemical with another that is simply less understood.
"Chemical data only becomes valuable when it helps organizations make better decisions," said Rachel Simon, ChemFORWARD’s Senior Manager of Safer Chemistry Collaboratives. "This is an exciting moment because several years of investment are converging. The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund has united stakeholders around a shared vision for measuring safer chemistry, while ChemFORWARD has demonstrated that trusted hazard information can be generated and shared at scale. The Framework brings those elements together, enabling organizations to generate comparable metrics, collaborate more effectively, and accelerate the transition to safer chemistry."
Version 1 marks the beginning of an open, collaborative process. SCI Fund invites companies, investors, technical experts, and other stakeholders to implement the Framework, share their experience, and help strengthen the methodology through real-world application.
"We don't expect one organization to solve this challenge alone," Walsh said. "The goal is to create a shared foundation that industries can build on together. Better measurement leads to better decisions, and better decisions help accelerate the transition to safer chemistry."
Using the Framework, organizations can:
Quantify the proportion of a portfolio made up of verified safer chemistry.
Identify chemicals of concern that require additional evaluation.
Measure characterization and disclosure gaps.
Benchmark progress over time using consistent metrics.
Strengthen sustainability reporting with more transparent chemical information.
The Safer Chemistry Impact Metrics Framework: A Universal Blueprint for Standardizing Chemical Footprinting and Reporting is available at www.saferchemistryimpactfund.org/metrics. To learn more, register HERE for the informational webinar on Sept 17, 2026.
About The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund
The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund (SCI Fund) is a collaborative initiative advancing the infrastructure needed to make safer chemistry measurable, actionable, and scalable. Working with companies, investors, technical experts, nonprofits, and government partners, SCI Fund develops shared metrics, trusted data, and practical tools that help organizations identify chemical hazards, benchmark progress, and accelerate investment in verified safer alternatives. By creating a common foundation for measuring safer chemistry, SCI Fund is helping to make it a standard operating practice across global supply chains. SCI Fund is fiscally sponsored by the Windward Fund. Seed funding has been provided by Apple, Google, and the Forsythia Foundation.