Green Cleaning in Schools Benefits Children’s Health and Saves Money

 Green Cleaning in Schools Benefits Children’s Health and Saves Money

New findings about the toxic ingredients in cleaning supplies used in California classrooms and policy solutions to improve indoor air quality, health, and achievement .

Rebecca Sutton, PhD, Environmental Working Group

Deborah Moore, Green Schools Initiative

Linda Lopez, Elk Grove Unified School District

21 school cleanersConventional Certified Green

Formaldehyde Acetaldehyde

2-Butoxyethanol Ethylene glycol

Phenol Ethanolamine

Limonene Benzene

Chloroform

Benzaldehyde Butyl alcohol Octanal

Dibutyl phthalate Toluene

Xylene Benzonitrile Methyl ethyl

ketone

457 air pollutants

6 chemicals that cause asthma

11 known, probable or possible human

carcinogens

200+ chemicals with no safety data

Green cleaning releases one-sixth the air pollution

General purpose cleaners

www.ewg.org/schoolcleaningsupplies

Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D.becky@ewg.org

Overview of the Challenge

The school’s challenge: vulnerable people in heavily used, densely occupied spaces

One-half of our schools have indoor environmental quality (IEQ) problems

Children are more vulnerable than adults to toxins

Absenteeism, lower productivity and test scores

10

Health Affects Learning and Productivity

• Asthma is leading cause of school absenteeism from a chronic illness, ~1.9 million missed school days in CA in 2005

• Loss of ~$40.8 million to schools from asthma absences of 12-17 year-olds

• Lower academic achievement is associated with asthmatic students

• Teachers, custodians have some of the highest rates of work-related asthma

• 5 billion pounds cleaning chemicals used annually

Advertising and labels not always reliable

Schools and agencies can rely on third party certifiers to evaluate products against specific standards and criteria

Made by mainstream companies, comparable price, demonstrated performance

General, all-purpose cleaners and other products widely available: Concentrated cleaners with automated dispensing

systems Hand soaps (not antibacterial) Paper products

chlorine-free, recycled tissue & towels on large rolls

Use Third-Party CertifiedGreen Products

Green Cleaners Save $ Reducing variety of products used

Replacing 20 products with 1 Green Seal product saved $280,000/year at Riverside Military Academy, Gainesville, GA

Reducing amount of chemicals used via best practices, dilution equipment

Palm Beach schools saving $360,000/yrPurchasing with procurement contracts

Novato Unified switched with no additional cost; Waxie offers 45% discounts,US Communities, State of California

14

New York Green Cleaning in Schools Law

State Education Law 409-I and State Finance Law 163-b (adopted in 2005, effective in 2006)

Requires Office of General Services to establish guidelines for “environmentally-sensitive” cleaning products for schools

All public and private elementary and secondary schools must buy environmentally sensitive cleaning and maintenance products

Green cleaning products offered on the NY state procurement contract:www.ogs.state.ny.us/bldgadmin/environmental/default.html

Illinois Green Cleaning Law

• Public Act 095-0084 (adopted in 2006, effective in 2008)

• K-12 schools (public and private) required to establish a green cleaning policy and purchase only products that meet guidelines “when it is economically feasible”

• Requires IL Green Government Coordinating Council to establish guidelines for “environmentally-sensitive cleaning products.”

• Successful pilot test in Chicago public schools found “green” cleaners comparable in cost

See www.healthyschoolscampaign.org

AB821The Clean & Healthy Schools Act

• Requires all schools to use “environmentally preferable” cleaners by 2011-12, when “economically feasible”

• Defines “environmentally preferable” as meeting third-party certification criteria

• Allows schools to exhaust existing supplies

• Encourages schools to use State Procurement contracts to get discounts.

• If purchasing environmentally preferable cleaners is not economically feasible, the district will submit a letter to CDE and Board until it is feasible

• CDE (or CDPH – by amendment) will post information on its website for schools to identify qualified products

What about H1N1?

According to the CDC:

• School staff should routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often with the cleaners they typically use. The CDC does not believe any additional disinfection of environmental surfaces beyond recommended routine cleaning is required.

http://www.flu.gov/professional/school/schoolguidancepdf.pdf

Deborah Moore510-525-1026

deborah@greenschools.netwww.greenschools.net