HICKORY, N.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency has determined Guardian Protection Products’ Stain Spotter and Maximum Strength Fabric & Rug cleaners meet EPA’s new “Safer Choice” Product Standards, Guardian announced.

These products will now carry the “Safer Choice” label designation and will soon be offered to consumers nationwide in partnership with the EPA.

The certification process took nearly three years to complete — due in part to the EPA’s transition from its previous program, “Design for the Environment,” to the new “Safer Choice” program in February 2015.

Guardian’s product development team worked through various formulas for these products to utilize environmentally safe soaps and oxidizers to meet the stringent certification standards while ensuring there was no decrease in the effectiveness of these products, the company said.

According to the EPA’s website, “When consumers see the Safer Choice label on a product, they can be confident that the ingredients have been through a rigorous EPA review. The label means that EPA scientists have evaluated every ingredient in the product to ensure it meets Safer Choice's stringent criteria. When people use Safer Choice products, they are protecting their families and the environment by making safer chemical choices.”

Currently, only about 2,000 products carry the Safer Choice label.