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bluesign RSL bluesign Restricted Substances List

Restrictions at the finished article - the familiar form of a restricted substances list, and the one a brand most often adopts or references in its own chemical policy. A voluntary certification standard, not a test method. Conformance runs through bluesign system partnership and the approved-input lists, so it constrains what a mill may buy rather than what it must measure.

Number

bluesign RSL

Edition

bluesign Restricted Substances List (RSL) Version 17.0 (July 2026)

Status

active

Equivalents

Body	Number	Equivalence	Deviation
ZDHC	ZDHC MRSL	NEQ	The pair a reader most needs distinguished, because the acronyms differ by one letter and the scope by everything. This restricts what may remain in the finished article; the MRSL restricts what may be used in the process. A supplier conforming to one has said nothing about the other, and both are routinely demanded together.

What this standard is for

Why it matters

Asks the opposite question to the ZDHC MRSL, which governs what may be used in the process rather than what may remain in the product. A supplier meeting one has not thereby met the other.

What to watch for

Shares its version number with the BSSL, a different document also at 17.0. Revised sections apply by 1 July 2028 at the latest for articles and purchasing. Revised every year, so the edition is the whole of the citation. This set came into force 1 July 2026 and replaced the 2025 editions.

Buy the official copy from bluesign

Metadata only — purchase the standard from the issuing body.