Q2 2025 Market Perspectives with 3E: Chemical compliance trends and SDS management insights for faster market access

Chemical compliance and SDS management trends for 2025

The ever-evolving regulatory landscape challenges companies to stay current on hundreds of chemicals of concern, an abundance of new reporting rules, and countless global and regional regulations that impact their ability to go to market.

Based on insights from our customers' usage of 3E solutions, proprietary third-party research surveys, and partnerships with industry analysts, this quarterly outlook shares benchmark data regarding companies' approaches to navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

Use this information to:

• Benchmark your own compliance strategies and practices
• Generate new ideas for enhancing efficiency
• Evaluate critical gaps in resources required to achieve compliance

3E works with dozens of the world's leading chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer package goods, industrial, manufacturing and retail establishments. Our intelligent solutions encompass more than 28 million Safety Data Sheets (SDS), data collected from more than 250,000 suppliers, and information on more than 3,200 regulatory topics.

With more than 35 years of experience, an esteemed customer roster, and cutting-edge technologies embedding the most up-to-date, comprehensive regulatory data available, 3E is working to enable a safer, more sustainable world by protecting people, safeguarding products, and helping businesses grow. We invite you to explore these trends and pave your own path to achieving greater safety, sustainability, and speed to market.

Key trends in Safety Data Sheets and regulatory compliance

A growing list of mandates to report on, curb, or eliminate usage of a large number of substances of concern requires manufacturers and distributors to collect and maintain accurate data on the materials and chemicals used in their products. SDS provide a single source of truth regarding each product's content and are the bedrock of sound chemical compliance.

With new regulations continually being introduced, and related rules going into effect each year, it is critical for companies to stay ahead with accurate, timely SDS authorship and updates. Here are five key trends based on surveys of product stewards worldwide.

Addressing exponential growth in SDS volumes

Alongside a growing number of regulations, identified substances of concern, and new product launches, the number of Safety Data Sheets manufacturers and distributors must author and manage is growing. This trend is pushing companies to adopt technologies to handle the authoring and update of thousands or hundreds of thousands of SDS. Traditional teams and resources lack the scalability to handle this exponential expansion.

Investing in reliable SDS Authoring solutions

In response to the heightened importance of SDS to achieving compliance and the enormous growth in SDS volume, companies are investing more in SDS authoring resources and tools. Product stewardship, compliance and IT are partnering to adopt SDS authoring solutions at a rapid clip. As enterprises make investment decisions, they should consider solution capabilities, the ability to integrate seamlessly with current ERP systems, as well as solution reliability and total cost of ownership.

Ensuring quality and accuracy in compliance reporting

The reliability of SDS is paramount to customers. The importance of quality will continue to intensify as more rules are adopted and fines and penalties are imposed for non-compliance. Quality relies on accurately identifying substances of concern within products and materials, which requires accurate data capture from the supply chain. It also requires careful authoring and timely updating of SDS so that accurate information about a product is readily available for compliance reporting, marketability inquiries, and hazard communications.

Regulatory monitoring for global market success

The evolution of the regulatory landscape is both broad and rapid. Companies face the daunting challenge of keeping pace with new rules, reporting requirements, and compliance criteria. For companies with a global footprint, this task can be nearly impossible using just human resources. Compliance failures can result in fines and penalties, go-to-market delays, lawsuits or even product failures. For these reasons, regulatory monitoring is a priority for companies when it comes to evaluating chemical compliance resources and solutions.

Elevated SDS spending patterns in key industries

With a heavy focus on innovation and the use of AI to expedite the R&D process, chemical and pharmaceutical companies are under significant regulatory pressure. It makes sense that chemical and pharmaceutical companies spend more than average on SDS authoring. Their adoption of the most sophisticated, innovative tools with regulatory horizon scanning, automated SDS authoring and management, and supply chain surveying capabilities will drive the speed and quality required to enable success in the modern business landscape.

Map your path to compliance and market acceptability today

3E provides intelligent compliance solutions to ensure safety and sustainability while creating new opportunities for growth. Our unmatched Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability (EHS&S) and product-compliance expertise empowers clients to improve chemical and workplace safety, product safety and stewardship, and supply chain transparency. Actionable intelligence informs globally responsible business practices and improves Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance.

Learn more by contacting 3E today.