Environmentally Preferable Purchasing of

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• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing of
• Cleaning Products
• Carol Westinghouse
• Senior Associate
• Greening Up Your Bottom Line
• September 19, 2006

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• 30-year-old, national, nonprofit environmental
  research and outreach organization
• Key research areas
• Chemical Hazards Prevention
• Solid Waste Prevention
• Green House Gas Reduction

INFORM works with government agencies, schools,
and businesses to facilitate business practices
that are environmentally preferable.
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INFORMsCleaning for Health Project

• 1990 INFORM began investigating the
  environmental and human health effects of
  chemicals in commerce
• 2000 INFORM was asked by a cleaning service to
  research cleaning products because of a growing
  body of information about the health hazards to
  its employees
• 2002 INFORM published Cleaning for Health
  Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor
  Environment
• 2003 Launched New England outreach program

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Environmentally Preferable Products

• Environmentally preferable products are goods
  and services that have a lesser or reduced effect
  on human health and the environment when compared
  with other products that serve the same purpose.
• Federal Executive Order 13101
• Greening the Government through Waste Prevention,
  Recycling, and Federal Acquisition, September 16,
  1998

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The Institutional Cleaning Industry

• In 2004, 7.8 billion worth of cleaning chemicals
  were sold in the US for institutional cleaning
• 6 billion lbs. of cleaning chemicals are used
  annually
• At least 25 of these ingredients are hazardous
  chemicals
• An estimated 75 million per year is spent on
  medical expenses and lost time for cleaning
  chemical injuries to janitors

ISSA, 2004 Report on Sanitary Supply Distributor
Sales Steve Ashkin, Solving the Green Cleaning
Puzzle How to Select and Use Safe Janitorial
Chemicals, 1999
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Conventional Cleaning Products

• May contain
• Carcinogens
• Ingredients that affect
• Respiratory system
• asthmagens
• Central nervous system
• Reproduction
• Development
• Kidneys and liver

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Why Is It Important to Use Environmentally
Preferable Products?

• A single janitorial worker uses, on average,
  194234 lbs. of chemicals annually, approximately
  25 of which are hazardous ingredients
• Janitorial workers experience one of the
• highest rates of occupational asthma
• 6 out of 100 janitors are injured each year
• 12 of injuries involve chemical fumes
• 20 are serious burns to the eyes or skin

• Janitorial Products Pollution Prevention
  Project, How to Select and Use Safe Janitorial
  Chemicals
• F. Reinisch, et al., Physician Reports of
  Work-Related Asthma in California, 19931996,
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine 39

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Institutional Cleaning Chemicals and Indoor Air
Quality

• Many cleaning products contain volatile organic
  compounds (VOCs) that contribute to poor indoor
  air quality (IAQ)
• Symptoms include eye, nose, and throat
  irritation headaches loss of coordination
  nausea damage to the liver, kidney, and central
  nervous system
• Some VOCs are known to cause cancer and others
  are suspected carcinogens

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Why Is Good Indoor Air Quality Important?

• Americans typically spend 90 of their time
  indoors
• Indoor concentrations of pollutants are commonly
  35 times higher than outdoor concentrations
• Indoor air quality is affected by cleaning
  products and processes, HVAC systems, interior
  finishes, exterior pollutants, personal-care
  products, pesticides, pet dander, etc.

US EPA
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Indoor Air Quality and Human Health

• Asthma
• 30 million people suffer from asthma
• This includes 9 million children under 18
• Asthma rates in New England are consistently
  higher than the rest of US
• Allergies and chemical sensitivities are on the
  rise
• Sensitization to low levels of chemicals found in
  our indoor environments
• Building-related symptoms (Sick Building Syndrome
  - SBS)
• Headache, eye irritation, nose and throat
  irritation, and general fatigue

National Center for Health Statistics The
Burden of Asthma in NE, Asthma Regional Council
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Studies Linking Cleaning Chemicals and Asthma

• European Respiratory Journal 2000 Acute
  short-term exposure to common cleaning chemicals
  causes a severe asthmatic attack in an asthmatic
  subject
• Scandinavian Journal of Workers Environmental
  Health 2001 Asthma prevalence in cleaners of
  private homes are 1.7 times higher than control
  group
• Journal of Occupational and Environmental
  Medicine 2003 12 of work-related asthma cases
  in 4 states were strongly associated with
  exposure to cleaning products

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Studies Linking Cleaning Chemicals and Asthma

• Thorax 2003 Asthma was found to be more
  prevalent in women previously or currently
  employed as domestic cleaners as compared to
  women who had never worked in the cleaning
  industry
• Thorax 2004 Children exposed to higher levels
  of VOCs have a greater incidence of asthma
• Thorax 2005 Pre-natal exposure to common
  cleaning products, paints, pesticides, etc.
  increased the risk of persistent wheezing in the
  young child
• Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2005
  Asthma symptoms in domestic cleaning women are
  associated with exposure to bleach and other
  irritants

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Cost of Poor Indoor Air Quality

• Economic burden of common respiratory illnesses
  to employers is 112 billion
• Annual social and economic costs of asthma alone
  is estimated at 18 billion dollars
• Asthma results in 14.5 million missed or less
  productive work days a year
• Reducing SBS symptoms could result in 20 160
  billion in productivity gains

Howard G. Birnbaum, PhD, et al., Economic
Burden of Respiratory Infections in an Employed
Population Asthma and Allergy Foundation of
America, Asthma Facts and Figures W. J. Fisk
and A. H. Rosenfeld, Estimates of Improved
Productivity and Health from Better Indoor
Environments
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Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Affects More
Than Just Human Health

• Some ingredients in cleaning products are
  environmental toxins
• Affecting aquatic life
• Interfering with septic tanks and sewage
  treatment operations
• Contributing to global warming VOCs
• Polluting rivers and streams
• Hormone disrupting surfactants
• Disinfectants

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What Is Cleaning for Health?

• Environmentally preferable chemicals
• Safer, less-toxic, third-party verification for
  environmental preferable qualities
• State-of-the-art cleaning methods (commonly
  called best practices)
• The use of advanced technology cleaning equipment
  that reduces the use of chemicals

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Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Chemicals

• Less-toxic chemicals are readily available
  through most manufacturers and distributors
• Third-party certification of institutional
  cleaning products is important to ensure quality
• Common third-party programs are
• Design for the Environment EPA
• Green Seal (GS) US
• Environmental Choice (EC) Canada

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Best Practices

• Develop a Cleaning for Health Plan for your
  facility
• Protocol for handling hazardous cleaning products
• Process for identifying less-toxic alternatives
• Use high performance equipment designed to keep
  soil from being re-deposited
• Limit the use of disinfectants
• Manage flooring and carpet maintenance
• Keep current on new products
• Ask you green product vendors to inform you
• Require GS Standards for Cleaning Services

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High Performance Equipment

• Reduce particulates in the air and the use of
  more-toxic cleaning products by
• Installing dirt grabbing walk-off mats inside and
  outside entrances, recommended 15'20'
• Using microfiber cloths and mops that pick up
  dirt while using a reduced amount of chemicals
• Employing high filtration vacuums or microfiber
  mops instead of conventional dust mops
• Installing high filtration vacuum attachments on
  other floor-care equipment

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Is There a Cost Difference?

• Healthier cleaning chemicals cost the same as
  conventional chemicals
• Some facilities have seen substantial chemical
  cost savings by reducing the number and quantity
  of chemicals used
• Concentrates
• Dilution stations
• 1 product is used for several cleaning tasks

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Tools for Going Green

• INFORMS Implementation Plan www.informinc.org
• LEED-EB www.usgba.org/LEED/
• Vermont Business Environmental Partnership
• www.vbep.org
• Green Hotels
• www.vtgreenhotels.org
• www.greenhotels.com
• The Green Restaurant Association
• www.dinegreen.com

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Eight Key Steps to Successful Implementation

• Adopt a policy
• Establish an Environmental Health and Safety
  Committee
• Educate staff
• Evaluate your current cleaning products, methods,
  and equipment
• Begin with a pilot project
• Select products that work for your facility
• Monitor success
• Reward staff for participating

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LEED-EB Certification

• Improves air quality and environmental
  performance
• Requires 14 credits related to cleaning
• Cleaning operations
• Sustainable sites 2 credits
• Materials resources
• Sustainable cleaning products materials 13
  credits
• Occupant recycling 3 credits

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LEED-EB Certification

• Indoor environmental quality
• Green cleaning entryway systems 1 credit
• GC isolation of janitorial closets 1 credit
• GC low-impact cleaning policy 1 credit
• GC pest management policy 2 credits
• GC cleaning equipment policy 1 credit

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Whos Cleaning Green?

• Federal government
• State and municipal governments
• Vermont is a leader and requires environmentally
  preferable purchasing
• Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New
  York
• Businesses
• Colleges and universities
• Hospitals and healthcare facilities
• Public and private schools
• New York state requires green cleaning
• Restaurants and hotels
• Green hotel and restaurant associations

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Resources

• INFORM resources www.informinc.org
• Approved products Green Seal and Env. Choice
  http//www.newdream.org/procure/products/approved.
  php
• Design for the Environment www.epa.gov/cgi-bin/e
  paprintonly.cgi
• The Ashkin Group www.ashkingroup.org
• Green Seal proposed standards for cleaning
  services www.greenseal.org
• US Green Building Council www.usgba.org/LEED/

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Chemical Hazards PreventionCleaning for Health
Project
Carol Westinghouse Senior Associate Cleaning for
Health westies_at_ecoisp.net 802-626-8643 INFORM
Inc. 212-361-2400