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Who regulates you, and when

Updated October 2026

On this page6

Four federal agencies and a state EPA CPSC FTC and OSHA and DOT Everyone else References

More regulators reach this product than any other in the estate, and none of them licenses you.

Four federal agencies and a state

EPA if you make a pesticidal claim. CPSC for hazardous substance labeling and child-resistant packaging. FTC for advertising. OSHA for workplace supply and for your own employees. DOT for transport. And California for ingredient disclosure.

No license, no pre-market approval and no inspection, unless you cross into pesticides. The obligations are continuous rather than gated, which is why they are easy to be unaware of.

EPA

Under FIFRA, any product claiming to kill or control microorganisms is an antimicrobial pesticide requiring registration.

The claim triggers it rather than the chemistry.

Registration brings efficacy data, product chemistry, an approved label, an establishment number and state registrations on top.

CPSC

The Federal Hazardous Substances Act and 16 CFR Part 1500: cautionary labeling for household products containing hazardous substances.

The Poison Prevention Packaging Act and 16 CFR 1700.14: child-resistant packaging above named thresholds, with sodium and potassium hydroxide at 2 percent the one that most often catches a cleaner.

FTC and OSHA and DOT

FTC for advertising claims, including the Green Guides on environmental and safety claims.

OSHA for the hazard communication standard: a safety data sheet and GHS labeling when supplying for workplace use, and information and training for your own employees.

DOT for transport, where a flammable, corrosive or oxidizing product is hazardous material with packaging, marking and documentation requirements.

Everyone else

California for ingredient disclosure and Proposition 65, plus VOC limits on consumer products, all attaching to selling into the state.

Other states with their own disclosure schemes and restricted substances.

Local fire code and waste disposal rules.

Your insurer, whose exclusions are more likely to affect you than any of the above.

And retailers, who in practice ask more questions than any regulator will.

References

US Environmental Protection Agency. Determining If a Cleaning Product Is a Pesticide Under FIFRA. A cleaner that claims to clean and degrease is not a pesticide; the same product claiming to kill germs is. The claim triggers it, not the chemistry. epa.gov

Federal Hazardous Substances Act and 16 CFR Part 1500, which require cautionary labeling on household products containing hazardous substances: the signal word, the hazard, precautionary measures, first aid and the instruction to keep out of reach of children. ecfr.gov

Poison Prevention Packaging Act, 16 CFR 1700.14, Substances requiring special packaging. Thresholds relevant to household cleaners include sodium and/or potassium hydroxide at 2 percent or more in liquid (10 percent dry), methyl alcohol at 4 percent, sulfuric acid at 10 percent, turpentine at 10 percent, and nonemulsion liquid furniture polish with 10 percent or more petroleum distillates below 100 SUS. ecfr.gov

US Federal Trade Commission. Green Guides, 16 CFR Part 260, on environmental marketing claims including "non-toxic", "natural", "biodegradable" and unqualified general environmental benefit claims. ftc.gov

OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200, which requires a safety data sheet and GHS labeling for hazardous chemicals supplied for workplace use. osha.gov

US Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Regulations, 49 CFR Parts 171–180, which govern how corrosive and flammable products may be packaged and shipped. ecfr.gov

California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017 (SB 258). Designated products — air care, automotive, general cleaning, and polish or floor maintenance products — must disclose ingredient information on the product website from January 1, 2020 and on the label from January 1, 2021. leginfo.ca.gov

Written from the federal regulation and agency guidance named on each page, not from a laboratory or a legal practice. Whether a particular product and a particular label make a cleaner or a pesticide is a determination about your product, and this is not that determination.