LOWELL — A deadly chemical popular in paint-stripping products may soon be replaced by an alternative developed by researchers at Univesity of Massachusetts Lowell.

“We’re very excited about this and other alternatives to be on the shelf so people have safer alternatives to use,” said Liz Harriman, deputy director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell announced a licensing agreement with Canadian company SRD NEWGEN to market the solution under the Super Remover brand earlier this month.

TURI Research Manager Gregory Morose led the years-long project. He admits the new solution’s ingredients — methyl acetate, dimethyl sulfoxide and 1,3-dioxolane — aren’t exactly household names. However, he said the formulation is far safer and just as fast as products containing the dangerous methylene chloride.

Products containing methylene chloride were the most popular on the market until recent months when Harriman said major retailers, concerned over the chemical’s safety, started banning it from their shelves.

The Environment Protection Agency warns methylene chloride can have acute effects on workers, consumers and bystanders. Harriman said the chemical has been linked to dozens of deaths, caused by fumes typically in confined spaces, overwhelming the user.

“We’re really tired of seeing people die,” she said.

Long-term effects include liver toxicity, liver cancer and lung cancer, according to the EPA. In the final days of President Barack Obama’s administration, the agency proposed prohibiting use of the chemical in many instances, however the initiative stalled during administrative turnover, Morose said.

Other paint strippers are on the market, but he said they’re far slower or contain equally deadly chemicals.

Like methylene chloride, the new solution takes about 15 minutes to strip a variety of paints from a number of different surfaces including metal, wood and masonry.

Finding a solution that could meet all these parameters was difficult and took years of tests conducted by UMass Lowell undergraduate and graduate students, he said. Research started in 2015.

“At some points I was wondering if (we wouldn’t find it), but we kept plugging away,” Morose said.

Harriman said the new solution does have one drawback: it’s flammable. Built in is a “evaporation barrier” that limits the fire danger by containing flames in event of fire to a couple inches above the solution.

“As you can imagine, there isn’t much that can take off 10 layers of paint in 20 minutes that doesn’t have some hazard, but it’s nothing like methylene chloride,” she said.

Morose expects the price point will be higher than the inexpensive methylene chloride, but lower than other, slower alternatives.

Money from sales would be split among several parties including the inventor and university.

Harriman said consumer sales could help fund more research at TURI, which focuses on finding safer alternatives to dangerous chemicals.

Morose said the solutions going on Canadian shelves will be produced by Super Remover in Quebec. He expects it will be on Canadian shelves by the end of the year.

The American version of the product will be produced by U.S. Pack Inc., out of Leominster, he said. There is not yet a date for this release.

Follow Elizabeth Dobbins on Twitter @ElizDobbins