Around the 1960s, safety concerns began to limit the range of materials and experiments available in chemistry sets. In the United States, the Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act of 1960, the Toy Safety Act of 1969, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, established in 1972, and the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 all introduced new levels of regulation, which led to the decline of chemistry sets' popularity during the 1970s and 1980s.  The A. C. Gilbert Company went out of business in 1967, and the Porter Chemical Company went out of business in 1984.
Modern chemistry sets, with a few exceptions, tend to include a more restricted range of chemicals and simplified instructions. Many chemistry kits are single use, containing only the types and amounts of chemicals for a specific application. Several authors note from the 1980s on, concerns about illegal drug production, terrorism, and legal liability have led to chemistry sets becoming increasingly bland and unexciting.
Nonetheless, a GCSE equipment set was produced, offering students better equipment, and there is a more up-market range of sets available from Thames & Kosmos such as the C3000 Kit.