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EPA AND INDUSTRY LAUNCH A HOME AND GARDEN PUBLIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN AT THE PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW

Release Date: 03/06/2000
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The Environmental Protection Agency and industry partners today launched a nationwide campaign to encourage consumers to read the information on household product labels. This “Read the Label FIRST!” campaign is part of the Consumer Labeling Initiative (CLI), an ongoing voluntary partnership to improve labels and help the public purchase, use and dispose of products more safely and responsibly. The campaign coincides with new, easier-to-read labels on many home pesticide and cleaning products now on store shelves.
EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner said, “The Clinton/Gore Administration believes that protecting public health, especially the health of children, works best when citizens are armed with better information to use in their communities and homes. This campaign helps consumers to make informed choices in purchasing products and using them safely.”

Based on three years of national consumer research on how people use product labels, companies are voluntarily changing their labels to make them easier to read and understand. EPA and its partners are simplifying label language, and replacing phrases such as “Statement of Practical Treatment” with more user friendly equivalents, such as “First Aid.” With the help of poison control centers and other health professionals, first aid directions on labels are now easier to understand. The new labels also present information in a clearer, more eye-catching way by putting key words and phrases in bulleted and boxed formats.

The CLI began in 1996 as a pilot program designed to encourage pollution prevention, foster consumer choice, and improve understanding of household consumer product labels on home pesticide and cleaning products. CLI participants are the pesticide and cleaning product manufacturers, environmental and consumer groups, federal, state and local government agencies and individual consumers who are interested in labeling issues. The CLI government and industry participants funded research to assess consumers’ comprehension, attitudes, behavior, and satisfaction with labeling. They also evaluated alternatives and recommended specific improvements to labels. For more information regarding the Consumer Labeling Initiative, visit; https://www.epa.gov/oppt/labeling.


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