Clorox: (non-quaternary ammonium) anti-microbial actives for cleaning and disinfection

For over 100 years, The Clorox Company has been making innovative products that generations of people around the world trust to make their lives and the world a little bit better. Throughout our history, we’ve been guided by our values, which include a deep commitment to doing the right thing in business, for our people, for the planet and for our communities. That’s the cornerstone of our long- term success and the foundation for our future growth.

Although most known for bleach, Clorox provides a wide variety of home and professional cleaning products that provide disinfection and sanitization benefits, including sprays, wipes, and laundry products. Quaternary Ammonium compounds (“Quats”) have historically been widely used in the cleaning industry due to their efficacy and formulation flexibility. Clorox’s commitment to responsibility means that we are continually searching for actives that can provide equivalent performance and formula flexibility, with improved human-friendly and planet-friendly characteristics. There is growing consumer interest in sustainability and more gentle cleaning products, and Clorox is committed to meeting those emerging consumer needs. And it is important that these human-friendly and planet-friendly solutions provide parity disinfection (contact time) and broad cleaning benefits (removal of greasy soils).

What we're looking for

Clorox is seeking new anti-microbial active ingredients with exemplary human safety and environmental sustainability profiles for use in a broad range of consumer disinfecting cleaning products. Technologies will be assessed against quaternary ammonium compounds as an industry benchmark for anti-microbial efficacy, formulation flexibility, sustainability, and regulatory requirements.

Solutions of interest include:

  • The solution can come from anywhere, so we invite submissions that may not yet be demonstrated in the cleaning industry specifically.

Our must-have requirements are:

  • Preliminary reason-to-believe data demonstrating broad antimicrobial efficacy against viruses, bacteria, and/or fungi. 
  • Meets one or both of the following criteria:
    • Preliminary reason-to-believe data demonstrating technology will have lower human & environmental toxicity compared to quaternary ammonium compounds.
    • Preliminary reason-to-believe data demonstrating technology will have improved life-cycle: such as improved beginning-of-life or end-of-life considerations (e.g. plant based, or biodegradability, etc.)

Our preferred requirements are:

These are additional desires which will favorably differentiate your submission.

  • Data-based proof-of-concept results for technology and/or a technology surrogate demonstrating improvement in specific requirement area(s)
  • Actives that are already approved by regulators such as EPA or international equivalent.
  • Actives or technology solutions that are already TSCA listed.
  • Any Safety testing, SDS/MSDS, or any data to support product safety.
  • Eligibility for certifications such as EPA Safer Choice  , EPA Design for the Environment (DfE), USDA Certified Biobased or international equivalents.

What's out of scope:

  • Chemicals that have been banned by one or more governmental authorities (e.g. triclosan, PHMBs).
  • Ingredients that are considered toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, corrosive, and/or harmful to the environment.

Click here for full details

Contact Name: 
Brandie Lea
Grant Amount: 
$10,000
Grant Location: 
External
External Deadline: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Internal Deadline: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Grant Type: 
Research
Grant Area: 
Industry
Grant Eligibility: 
Faculty