What is Human-Safe? Our Brand Promise
The number one question we get from new and potential customers is: “What makes Branch Basics different from all the other natural, better-for-you cleaning brands?”
Our answer is simple: all our products are made with human-safe ingredients.
So, what exactly are human-safe ingredients?
At a high level, human safe means the ingredients in our products, without compromise, are safe for humans, including very sensitive groups such as babies, pregnant women, people with chemical sensitivities, and those with chronic illness.
On a deeper level, the term human-safe is at the core of our company’s values, mission, and history.
The History Behind Branch Basics’ Human-Safe Tagline & Commitment
“Green”, “eco-friendly”, “a blend of science and nature”, “plant-based”, “mineral-based”, “natural”, “all-natural”, “made with organic ingredients”, “bio-based”, “made using safer ingredients”, “chemical-free”, “non-toxic”—these are just some of the many terms used to describe and market non-conventional cleaning products with less harmful ingredients.
However, from the company’s inception, co-founder Marilee Nelson never felt any of them properly represented Branch Basics.
“I remember in the very beginning, Allison, Kelly, and I were brainstorming and trying to decide which phrase would accurately describe Branch Basics.”
“I kept pushing for the term human-safe because, after my history of recovering my son from pesticide exposure and severe chemical sensitivities and working with the chronically ill for decades in my practice, I knew the other terms didn’t accurately represent a truly safe product.”
The challenge was that no one knew what human-safe meant, so it wasn’t very marketable.
This led the company to adopt more recognizable taglines, such as “plant and mineral-based” and “the power of pure,” as it grew the brand.
Still, Nelson continued to advocate for the term “human-safe” in interviews, marketing materials, and content, finally culminating in its use on our product packaging and brand mission today.
What Does Human-Safe Mean?
At its core, human-safe means our formulas contain only the safest, non-irritating ingredients for humans, including the most vulnerable and sensitive.
Human-safe is inherently environmentally safe and cruelty-free, because what harms people harms the environment.
Not all unconventional, better-for-you, low-tox or more natural cleaning products can make this claim because ingredients chosen are based on the Dose Makes the Poison toxicology model, where lab animals and the LD50 (lethal dose) become the standard for safety.
Even products with “non-toxic” on the label may contain natural, synthetic, or naturally derived ingredients that may disrupt hormones, promote metabolic syndrome, cause asthma, inflame the nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems, irritate the lungs, eyes, skin, or the microbiome.
“What people often don’t realize, and what I learned from my son’s recovery and working with clients, is that many safer or more natural cleaning products still contain inflammatory or toxic chemicals.”
Nelson recalled her first experience with this: “My first realization of this was when I brought a cleaning product home from a well-known natural cleaning brand, presuming it would be safe for my chemically-injured son.
“I brought the product in the front door, my son was in the kitchen, and the next thing I knew, he was on the floor with a blinding headache, tears running down his face, asking me what I did. I finally realized he was reacting to the new product, and when I removed it from the house, he stopped reacting.”
Nelson quickly looked into the product’s ingredients and found it used methylisothiazolinone as a preservative, which turned out to be a potent neurotoxin and skin irritant.[1-4]
“I remember sitting there thinking, oh my gosh, the terms natural, green, or plant-based on a label are not enough. You need to really review the ingredients.”
The process of becoming aware of ingredients and their specific impact continued as she watched her son react to every “natural” product brought into the home. The consequences of specific ingredients on his mood, behavior, and learning ability were eye-opening.
This is why we use "human-safe" as our primary descriptive tagline, quality standard, and company promise.
It’s not a buzzword or a greenwashing term; it is our promise that every ingredient in our products is gentle, safe, and non-irritating for even the most sensitive humans when used as directed.
No short-cuts, no low levels of toxic preservatives or other ingredients, nothing undisclosed on the label, just human-safe ingredients you can feel good about.
Related reading: Are They Greenwashing? How to Decipher a Brand's Sustainability Claims
Going Deeper: What Makes An Ingredient Human-Safe?
As you’ve just learned, the term human-safe was born from what Marilee calls "the human laboratory of experience", where her son’s and clients’ recoveries opened her eyes to this differentiating concept that the science of epigenetics now confirms: exposure to a tiny amount of one chemical can have a significant impact, turning genes on and off and thereby altering gene expression.
So, what makes an ingredient human-safe?
Drawing from her son’s healing and more than forty years of working with people with chronic illness, Marilee compiled a research‑driven list of ingredients that consistently triggered symptoms and those that did not.
That list now guides every Branch Basics formulation, ensuring that each product reflects the highest standard of human‑safe ingredient selection.
Raising The Bar On Labeling
At Branch Basics, one of our goals is to raise the bar on labeling and revolutionize the industry. We put human safety first at every step and make that commitment unmistakable on our label.
The Branch Basics process is unique because we use real people to test our formulas. For example, to ensure our Concentrate was safe for even the most sensitive, we asked volunteers with chemical sensitivities to test every single Branch Basics formula attempt.
We were looking for a formula that caused no skin, eye, or lung irritation.
These volunteer “canaries” rejected every version that caused even the slightest reaction.
After 99 iterations, we finally landed on a formula that was highly effective, completely non‑irritating, and human-safe. We were ready to move forward.
Even with this rigorous canary testing—often dismissed as anecdotal—Marilee still believed we needed objective third‑party verification for our customers.
The formula was sent to a lab where it was placed in direct contact with human skin and eye‑like tissue to determine its impact.
When the lab called with the results, the owner told Marilee he had never seen a product test 100% non‑irritating to the skin. He said every cleaning company would want to know how we achieved it. Then he asked who our chemist was.
She told him immediately: “Our chemists were my canary son and the chronically ill clients whose reactions revealed which ingredients were or were not truly safe.”
She told him about her contention that the Dose Makes the Poison toxicology model is not a viable benchmark for what is safe for the human body.
Exposure to even small amounts of harmful chemicals does, in fact, matter. Her son and clients proved that these chemicals can initiate disease, inhibit recovery, and impair the body's ability to heal fully.
“That third‑party verification was important because it provided independent evidence of what our experience had already proven.”
Because our mission is to revolutionize the industry and raise the bar on labeling, we pursued certifications from the most rigorous agencies to verify—right on the label—that our products are truly human‑safe.
Branch Basics earned MADE SAFE Verification (the gold standard for ingredient safety) and EWG Verification, another trusted certification that strengthens consumer confidence and reflects our commitment to uncompromising product and ingredient integrity.
How Human-Safe Shows Up In Branch Basics Products
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Ingredients are chosen through the human health lens first, not on the LD50 (lethal dose), dose makes the poison, where half of the test rats or lab animals die.
Performance and safety co-exist; we don’t trade effective results for health, or vice versa
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Products are tested for human health before performance claims are considered
All ingredients are safe for even the most sensitive people, including babies, pregnant women, pets (because pets are people too!), people with chemical sensitivities, and those with chronic illnesses
- Products contain no harsh chemicals, including endocrine disruptors, synthetic or natural fragrance, disinfectants, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, neurotoxins, pesticides such as isothiazolinones, etc.
- Products are designed to reduce toxic load in the home and will not degrade indoor air quality
- Products are third-party tested to ensure safety
- Products are safe for repeated daily use
100% transparency in labeling, marketing, and ingredient communications
- No greenwashing terms are used on labels, in marketing, or in educational materials
- What’s safe for humans must also be safe for the environment and animals.
- Ingredients are 100% plant- and mineral-derived, so they break down in the environment, and we’re also Leaping Bunny Certified.
What this means for you, our customers, is you can trust our products contain no hidden ingredients, including harsh synthetic chemicals or even natural or naturally-derived irritants or potential irritants.
At Branch Basics, we know from experience that natural, green, chemical-free, or plant-based labels aren’t enough; human safety is our #1 priority and promise.
Says Nelson, “Our products were made for the most sensitive individuals, the canaries in the coal mine who warn us of something toxic. If they can use these products without issue, we know they are truly human safe, and we all benefit.”
Related reading: End-Product Testing: How Branch Basics Is Changing the Cleaning Industry
Want To Learn More About Branch Basics Ingredients?
Transparency is a core part of our human-safe mission, and we want you to know exactly what’s in Branch Basics products.
For more information, check out the following articles:
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The Journey To Our New Formula
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Our New & Improved Dishwasher Tablets
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Breaking Down The Ingredients In Our Human-Safe Laundry Detergent
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Breaking Down Our Healthy Gel Handsoap
- How Branch Basics Is A Healthy & Sustainable Cleaning Line
New To Branch Basics & Wondering How It All Works?
See How To Use Your Branch Basics Starter Kit for all the details, then shop Branch Basics Starter Kits here.
