Clorox Takes Another Step in its Path to Transparency

Nearly two years ago I did a story on this blog about how cleaning product companies were "coming clean," and listing the ingredients in such Windex and Formula 409.  Now one of those companies, The Clorox Company, is taking another step toward transparency in chemical labeling.  Last week the company issued a press release announcing that "it is now disclosing the following additional information about its products through its Ingredients Inside program:"

• Specific identity of preservatives and dyes in all U.S. and Canadian cleaning, disinfecting and laundry products. This information expands upon the listing of active ingredients, which has been provided to consumers over the last two years.
• Palette of fragrance ingredients - listed in numerical and alphabetical order - used in all U.S. and Canadian cleaning, disinfecting and laundry products. Clorox is also including a link to a PDF file that includes each fragrance ingredient's CAS Registry Number, the unique numerical identifier assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service to every chemical available in open scientific literature, as well as the fragrance chemical names, provided by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

Besides the well known household staple, Clorox bleach, The Clorox Company also makes "Pine-Sol^® cleaners, Poett^® home care products, Fresh Step^® cat litter, Kingsford^® charcoal, Hidden Valley^® and K C Masterpiece^® dressings and sauces, Brita^® water-filtration products, Glad^® bags and wraps and containers, and Burt's Bees^® natural personal care products."

Revealing their chemical ingredients is a big deal given that "nearly 90 percent of Clorox Company brands hold the No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in their categories."  That means these market leaders will likely have a large influence (aka peer pressure) on other cleaning product companies to reveal their ingredients in order to compete for the "green market" business.

More information about the program can be found on Clorox's "Ingredients Inside" page.