Kimberly-Clark has a long history of providing products that improve the health, hygiene, and well-being of people everywhere.
The safety of our consumers is our number one priority, which is why we take our responsibility for developing safe and effective products seriously. All of our products undergo thorough internal and independent safety evaluations that support our confidence in the quality and safety of our products.
Further, we constantly strive to identify and develop new solutions that respond to consumers’ needs while also proactively evaluating new research findings and changing regulatory requirements.
This commitment to our consumers and customers has been, and will continue to remain, Kimberly-Clark’s No. 1 priority.
Nothing is more important to Kimberly-Clark than the quality and safety of our products and the well-being of the consumers who use them. We have rigorous safety and quality requirements and we are proud of our long track record of producing safe products. This commitment to safety includes the ingredients used in our products.
We maintain a Restricted Substances List to ensure a consistent, global approach to safeguarding our consumers and the environment from exposure to ingredients of potential concern. And, we are committed to reducing or eliminating restricted substances and to implementing the use of alternatives through our continuous research and development efforts.
Restricted Substances Management at Kimberly-Clark is based on the following principles:
We require our suppliers to adhere to the Kimberly-Clark RSL, and to have processes and systems in place to ensure compliance.
What are Preservatives?
A preservative is an ingredient that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, personal care products (including cosmetics), and many other products to help keep us safe by reducing the ability of bacteria, yeast, or mold to grow. Preservatives can be synthetic or natural, and some plants and fruits naturally contain preservatives identical to those used in cosmetics and personal care products.
Why are Preservatives used in our products?
Just like food, preservatives help to keep our products fresh and safe. Without preservatives, any product that has just enough water in them to support the growth of bacteria, yeast, or mold, can become contaminated with the bacteria, yeast or mold found in your everyday environment. That includes most moist wipes, hand soaps, lotions and shampoos.
How much preservatives do you add?
Preservatives are added at low levels to ensure that the product doesn’t become contaminated over the time it takes the consumer to finish the product. Every preservative that we use must follow our safety evaluation process for approval and comply with local regulatory requirements.
To make it easier to help you decide which products are right for your family, we share the ingredients used in our products.
Preservatives we do not use in our products:
Kimberly-Clark manufactures a variety of safe and effective products which are free of these preservatives:
What are Residuals?
The safety of our consumers is our top priority. That's why Kimberly-Clark reviews the raw materials and manufacturing processes of our products for a broad range of items to ensure their safety.
What are residuals?
Chemicals which are found in very low amounts (some barely detectable, measured in parts per billion or even parts per trillion) are referred to as “residues” and/or “traces”. Identifying these depends upon what analysis is used and how sensitive the test is. Today, it is possible to detect smaller and smaller amounts of substances by using advanced analysis and detection techniques – even at amounts that are well below the levels that are established as safe for human use/consumption.
Where do residuals/trace chemicals come from?
Traces are not intentionally added. These traces can originate from a variety of sources such as impurities in the raw materials, the manufacturing process, or simply from the environment. Due to the ever increasing sensitivity of analytical methods, lower levels of traces of substances may be detected in products, even if they are produced according to state of the art sourcing and manufacturing practices.
How does Kimberly-Clark work to control residuals in their products?
When consumers choose our instantly recognizable brands they also trust in our commitment to safety. This commitment extends to the materials we use. We want our consumers to have confidence in our products and that starts with using safe materials and making safe products, all of which go through our robust Product Safety Analysis. Each ingredient is also screened against our established principles and guidelines to ensure new and existing products continue to meet or exceed expectations. When traces are identified, we collaborate with supply chain partners to reduce, eliminate, or manage these chemicals.
