Regulations matter when buying cleaning chemicals

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18th of March 2025 Article by Lorcan Mekitarian

Climate change is a big issue facing us all. Businesses are working hard to operate sustainably, putting in place initiatives designed to cut carbon emissions and make sure their operations and products and services have a minimal impact on the environment. The challenge is how to operate sustainably in the current economic environment, writes Lorcan Mekitarian, chair of the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) in the UK.

UK businesses are facing a range of obstacles locally. The UK economy is barely growing. There is a demand for wage increases created by the freezes of recent years and the spike in inflation following the pandemic.

This is compounded by the April increase in employers' National Insurance and the new National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage. Businesses in the cleaning and hygiene sector are all impacted by these issues, but they are also facing global pressures.

The global economy is experiencing a slowdown. There are supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine continues to have an impact on energy prices and the conflict in the Middle East is restricting global trade. There is also uncertainty about the impact of Trump presidency in the US.

Navigating these competing pressures is not easy. Buyers and end users are looking for low-cost environmentally-friendly solutions. Unsurprisingly, environmental messages can be seductive, particularly when they are coupled with highly competitive prices. In the regulated arena of cleaning chemicals, it is difficult to produce products that do the job, have a minimal impact on the environment and are sustainable. It takes years of investment and testing to get the products right and clear the regulatory hurdles. It's not surprising, therefore, that some organisations are looking for short cuts.

The doors were opened for this type of sharp practice in the pandemic. At that time, demand for cleaning and hygiene products, in particular cleaning chemicals and hand sanitisers, soared. All sorts of companies with no, or at best tangential expertise, began to produce these products, making extraordinary and unjustifiable claims for their efficacy. We got used to moving at pace and accepting product claims with little or no interrogation. The argument then, that there was little time for verification, is playing out in the climate change arena today. Some say technology is moving so fast there is no time for independent verification or regulation.

Pause for a moment and let that argument sink in. The suggestion is that the need for some kind of environmentally sustainable solutions far outstrips the need to know if the solution is indeed environmentally sustainable, if it works or how to use it to be certain it is safe. These companies use gobble-de-gook or undefined phrases like ‘non-renewable chemicals', ‘chemical-free', ‘natural' and ‘non-toxic' to promote their products.

Regulations, however, matter. They guarantee safety. They underpin transparency and ensure consistency. They provide a framework for comparison, so a buyer really knows if they are getting the product or solution they need. They also provide accountability, giving buyers a route to recourse if needed. In short, they underwrite an ethical approach.

As the number of companies promoting unsubstantiated environmental claims for their products grew, buyers of cleaning chemicals started to ask our members how they can identify, understand and validate these claims. In response we developed practical advice, produced a glossary of key terms and published a White Paper, titled The Evolution and Regulation of Cleaning Chemicals.

Our advice to anyone buying cleaning chemicals is always to look for independent verification and to make sure the supplier has the relevant regulatory approval. For example, the term ‘biodegradable' as it is applied to cleaning products, is defined in current legislation (Detergent Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 and corresponding UK post Brexit legislation). Something claiming to be ‘organic' should be certified by, for example, the Soil Association. ‘Net-zero' claims should be based on the international net-zero standard (sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero) or another reliable third party verified certification.

The glossary of key terms gives buyers the information they need to understand the real meaning of different phrases and know how to challenge the validity of a claim.

The White Paper was written by Peter Thistlethwaite, technical manager - cosmetics and biocides at MSL Solution Providers. Peter is a microbiologist and MSL Solution Providers offers an integrated regulatory and laboratory testing service. Its in-house accredited microbiology and virology laboratories provide a comprehensive range of standard tests, including efficacy testing against bacteria, fungi, spores, viruses, mycobacteria, legionella, and algae.

The White Paper explains the evolution of cleaning chemicals. It explains how testing systems with recognised methodologies were introduced to "to prove chemicals were effective but hand-in-hand they gave a way to remove fraudulent products, offering better protections". As Peter says in the White Paper, "when a product makes claims of safety or eco friendliness that seems too good to be true it may well be."

Every member of the CHSA has signed our rigorous Code of Practice, which demands our members trade ethically. Amongst other stipulations, it requires members to:

• Conduct business dealings in an open, honest, fair and proper manner and in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations of the UK and EU
• Ensure all public statements made by and on behalf of the Member are decent, honest and truthful
• Ensure no false or exaggerated claims are made verbally, in literature, electronically or in any other way
• Hold and provide evidence on request for product and service claims, particularly with reference to legislation, certifications and accreditations.

Our Code of Practice also includes the Competition & Market's Authority's Green Claims Code. Its principles are summarised as:

• Claims must be truthful and accurate
• Claims must be clear and unambiguous
• Claims must not omit or hide important relevant information
• Comparisons must be fair and meaningful
• Claims must consider the full life cycle of the product or service
• Claims must be substantiated.

Finally, every member of the CHSA's Accreditation Scheme for manufacturers of cleaning chemicals has signed the CHSA's own ethical marketing code.

Our advice to buyers of cleaning and hygiene chemicals is simple.

• Be sceptical. If a claim sounds too good to be true, it probably is
• Ask for supporting evidence. Reputable companies will be willing and able to provide data sheets, reports, certificates or other evidence to support the claims
• Buy from a reputable supplier with a track record
• Specify CHSA Accreditation. Our standards, your guarantee.