What is Functional Use?
Functional use refers to the function that a chemical serves in a product. Every chemical in commerce serve one or more functions, such as solvent, pesticide, chelating agent, fragrance, or preservative. We collect a few types of related data, and allow you to search by the first two:
Who might use this?
Let’s say you’re looking for a non-toxic surfactant to reformulate a product. You can search for surfactants here then import the chemicals to one of your comparisons to compare their toxicity profiles.
Alternately, if you’re researching how chemicals get into our bodies and wondering about exposure from products or occupations, you can also start from a chemical’s page and click the Functional Uses tab view all the functions and products associated with it.
Why is functional use important?
Functional use information is a critical part of Alternatives Assessment, along with chemical hazard information, as it links assessed chemicals to specific uses where they have proven effective. This can help product designers identify useful alternatives to hazardous ingredients. In the long term, our goal is to create a comprehensive functional use framework to support cross industry alternatives assessments. In other words, to help users apply good chemical solutions from one industry to another.