A Clean Sweep
Safer, Effective, and Affordable Commercial Cleaning Chemicals Are Readily Available

Cleaning can be a dirty business. One out of every three commercial cleaning chemicals is known to cause human health or environmental problems.¹ Traditional cleaning chemicals can cause serious health problems for students, teachers, administrators, patients, parishioners, and janitorial workers. They also contribute to air and water pollution. As a result, the way the Catholic Church cleans and maintains the 80,000 buildings it owns in the United States can have a significant impact on human health and the environment.

Luckily, safer "green" cleaning products are commercially available. They work just as well or better than the traditional products. They do not cost any more. They are also readily available and easy to locate.

Many Traditional Cleaners are Hazardous

Traditional cleaning products can contain harmful chemicals that can cause cancer, reproductive disorders, major organ damage, and permanent eye damage. Other common health problems associated with cleaning chemicals include asthma and other respiratory ailments, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.²

Furthermore, cleaning chemicals are washed down the drain and find their way into drinking water, lakes, and streams, adversely affecting plant and animal life and threatening public health.³ Cleaning products are also responsible for approximately eight percent of total non-vehicular emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can trigger respiratory problems such as asthma, contribute to smog formation, and inhibit plant growth.⁴

Those who spend much of their time indoors, like students, patients, and office workers, are particularly susceptible to health problems caused by cleaning products. The three million janitors who keep the country’s buildings clean also experience unnecessarily high injury rates with 6 out of every 100 injured because of the chemicals they are using.⁵

Switching to safer cleaners can significantly increase indoor air quality, reduce cleaning-related health problems and absenteeism, and increase productivity and morale.⁶ Green cleaners also can reduce negative environmental effects. Santa Monica, a small resort community in Southern California, for example, eliminated 3,200 pounds of hazardous materials by replacing traditional cleaning products with safer alternatives.⁷

While reducing hazardous materials is important for environmental reasons, some facilities are reducing use of such materials for more immediate security reasons. Some traditional cleaning chemicals are flammable and, when mixed, can produce deadly gases.

Safer Cleaners are Affordable and Effective

Switching to safer cleaning chemicals is a sound financial decision even for businesses that might not ordinarily worry about building occupant and employee health. In most cases, green cleaning products do not cost more than traditional cleaners. Many organizations have discovered significant cost savings by switching from traditional cleaners to green cleaners. Santa Monica, for example, documented a 5% price savings after its switch to safer cleaners.⁸ Other organizations, including the Chicago Public School System and the states of Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Vermont also report that safer cleaners are cost competitive.

Using green cleaning chemicals can actually produce additional savings when other benefits are taken into account. For example, using safer cleaning products, in addition to better ventilation and cleaning, could improve worker productivity by between 0.5% and 5%—an annual productivity gain of $30 billion to $150 billion.⁹ Similar improvements in student performance are being studied. Switching to safer cleaners can also help reduce the more than $75 million a year U.S. institutions spend on medical expenses and lost time wages for janitors due to chemical-related injuries.¹⁰

Safer cleaners also match or exceed their traditional counterparts when it comes to performance. In numerous independent laboratory tests conducted on behalf of a group of large purchasers, all of the safer products bought by the group work as well or better than traditional cleaners. Santa Monica, the Chicago Public School System, and others have repeated these results in controlled on-site evaluations. Products certified by Green Seal, a U.S. standard setting and environmental labeling organization, are required to pass stringent performance standards in addition to strict environmental and human health criteria.¹¹

How to Find Safer Cleaners

Given the health, environmental, and financial benefits of safer cleaning products, every facility should be using them. Until recently, it could be difficult to identify the safer products. Thanks to consensus-based criteria developed by a national work group of institutional purchasers representing more than $15 million in annual cleaning product purchases, finding green cleaning products is easier than ever.

The work group, which was coordinated by the Center for a New American Dream and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, included some of the early pioneers who first attempted to define and purchase safer cleaning products, including: Massachusetts; Santa Monica, California; King County, Washington; Minnesota; and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The work group set out to identify standards that address toxicity; carcinogens and reproductive toxins; skin and eye irritation; skin sensitization; combustibility; smog, ozone, and indoor air quality; aquatic toxicity; eutrophication; aquatic biodegradability; concentrates; fragrances; and prohibited chemicals.

The work group examined many existing standards and considered developing its own before deciding that Green Seal’s standard for environmentally preferable institutional cleaners (GS-37) met their needs. Because at the time Green Seal's standard only covered general-purpose, bathroom, and glass cleaners, the work group extrapolated GS-37 to cover additional cleaners such as carpet cleaners, disinfectants, floor care, and hand soaps. Green Seal is currently expanding its standard to include many of these additional products, which will make it even easier for facilities to find them.

Review Safety Claims Carefully

Many green cleaning advocates believe the products listed on the center’s Web site (www.newdream.org/clean), which includes those certified by Green Seal (www.greenseal.org), are the most reliable products known to meet standards that adequately protect human health and the environment.

Purchasers might find other labels or claims on products. Be aware of clever advertising. If someone recommends a "certified" product that is not listed on the center’s Web site or is not certified by Green Seal, use the following questions to determine the validity of the claim:

• Ask for a copy of the standard they are using. Does the meaning of the standard appear clear, consistent, and thorough? Does it clearly identify specific human health and environmental concerns? Does it specify detailed testing protocols to be used to determine the safety of the products being certified? How does it compare with other reputable standards?
• Ask about the standard setting process. Was the standard developed by an independent third-party or by the company? Who paid to have the standard developed? How many organizations were involved in its development? Was the public invited to participate and comment throughout the standard development process? Are copies of all stakeholder comments along with the standard-setting organization’s response to those comments publicly available?
• Ask about the verification process. What process must companies use to prove their products meet the standard? Are companies allowed to self-certify their products or are they required to use an independent third party to determine if the products meet the standard? Does the verification process include just a cursory review of product information or does it require an on-site visit by the certifying organization?

Closing Thoughts

It is a rare opportunity when it is possible to simultaneously remain fiscally responsible; protect the health of students, patients, parishioners, and employees; and fulfill a moral obligation to preserve the environment. Switching to safer cleaning chemicals provides just such an opportunity. The safer products are better for human health and the environment. They work just as effectively as traditional products and they do not cost any more. Doing the right thing has never been so easy or so rewarding.

Scot Case
Center for a New American Dream
Reading, Pennsylvania
www.newdream.org

Facts

• One out of three cleaning chemicals is known to cause human health or environmental problems.
• The American Medical Association encourages parents of asthmatics and of children with severe allergies to ask about the cleaning chemicals used in their child’s school.
• For a list of commercially available green cleaners visit www.newdream.org/clean or www.greenseal.org.

Health Conditions Associated with Traditional Cleaning Chemicals

• Cancer
• Reproductive disorders
• Major organ damage
• Permanent eye damage
• Burns
• Asthma and other respiratory ailments
• Headaches
• Eye, nose, throat, and skin irritation
• Dizziness
• Fatigue

For More Information

The Center for a New American Dream’s Institutional Purchasing Program helps organizations incorporate environmental and human health considerations into purchasing decisions. The Institutional Purchasing Program promotes environmentally preferable purchasing through its outreach, trainings and presentations, conference calls, Web site, and media and communications efforts.

The Center will soon be launching a campaign to encourage schools to switch to safer cleaning chemicals. To learn more, visit www.newdream.org/procure or contact Scot Case, Director of Procurement Strategies, at scot@newdream.org or (610) 373-7703.

Notes

1. Janitorial Products Pollution Prevention Program. Cleaning Chemical Injuries Fact Sheet. Available at www.wrppn.org/Janitorial/Be%20Healthy%200.pdf.

2. Culver, Alicia et al. "Cleaning for Health: Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment." INFORM, Inc.: 2002; U.S. EPA. "Targeting Indoor Air Pollution: EPA’s Approach and Progress." March 1993. Available online at www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/targetng.html.

3. U.S. EPA. A wealth of polution prevention resources are available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/.

4. U.S. EPA "Green Cleaning Products Outshine the Competition." EPP Update. April 2000. Available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/pubs/update6.pdf.

5. Culver, Alicia et al. "Cleaning for Health: Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment." INFORM, Inc.: 2002.

6. William Fisk and Arthur Rosenfeld, "Improved Productivity and Health from Better Indoor Environments," Center for Building Science Newsletter (now the Environmental Energy Technologies Newsletter), Lawrence Berkeley Labs, Summer 1997, 5, http://eetd.lbl.gov/cbs/newsletter/NL15/productivity.html; EPP Update. April 2000. Available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/pubs/update6.pdf.

7. U.S. EPA. "The City of Santa Monica’s Environmental Purchasing: A Case Study." March 1998. Available online at www.pestinfo.ca/documents/santamonica.pdf; U.S. EPA "Green Cleaning Products Outshine the Competition." EPP Update. April 2000. Available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/pubs/update6.pdf

8. U.S. EPA. "The City of Santa Monica’s Environmental Purchasing: A Case Study." March 1998. Available online at www.pestinfo.ca/documents/santamonica.pdf; U.S. EPA "Green Cleaning Products Outshine the Competition." EPP Update. April 2000. Available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/pubs/update6.pdf

9. William Fisk and Arthur Rosenfeld, "Improved Productivity and Health from Better Indoor Environments," Center for Building Science Newsletter (now the Environmental Energy Technologies Newsletter), Lawrence Berkeley Labs, Summer 1997, 5, http://eetd.lbl.gov/cbs/newsletter/NL15/productivity.html.

10. Janitorial Products Pollution Prevention Project. "How to Select and Use Safe Janitorial Chemicals." U.S. EPA Region X, California EPA, And County of Santa Clara: December 1999. Available online at www.wrppn.org/Janitorial/05%20Report.pdf

11. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Request for Response for Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Products (RFR #GR016). Awarded April 2003. Available online at www.newdream.org/procure/products/MassRFP.pdf

From Issue-Gram, Vol. 14, No. 4, Fall 2004
Copyright NCEA