A Google- and Apple-backed initiative has released the first comprehensive framework for measuring corporate chemical footprints across supply chains, giving companies a standardized way to catalog hazardous substances, identify data gaps, and track progress toward safer alternatives. The Safer Chemistry Impact Metrics Framework, developed by the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund with input from corporations, nonprofits, investors, and government agencies, aims to become for chemical management what the GHG Protocol has become for carbon accounting — a universally recognized benchmark that drives transparency and reduction.
The framework arrives in response to the Global Framework on Chemicals adopted at the fifth International Conference on Chemicals Management in September 2023. While non-binding, that agreement set clear expectations for addressing human and environmental health risks across the full chemical life cycle. Until now, companies lacked a common methodology to measure their chemical footprint in a way that is comparable across sectors and verifiable by stakeholders.
The new metrics framework operates as an open architecture that integrates with existing chemicals management systems. It enables companies to map the percentage of substances in their products and supply chains that fall into the “chemicals of concern” category — those with persistent, known risks — versus those verified as safer alternatives. Pilot testing spanned beauty and personal care, apparel and footwear, and consumer electronics, though the principles are deliberately sector-agnostic.
ChemForward, a key SCI Fund partner, underpins the effort with its Chemical Hazard Data Trust, a repository rating commonly used chemicals on 24 human and environmental health endpoints. Funders include Google, HP, and Sephora. The SCI Fund plans to begin formal standardization in early 2027, a process that will determine whether this framework achieves the widespread adoption needed to shift global supply chains toward inherently safer chemistry.
Read the full report at GreenBiz.