Green Janitorial Chemicals - 7 Shocking Facts to Consider for Protecting Your Building Occupants

Cleaning yields a clean surface, right? Nope, not necessarily. If you use the traditional, conventional cleaners you may have created an even greater issue. Although the surfaces may be free from dirt and grime, they may not be free from toxins that result from the petrochemical based cleaning products used. It is for this reason that it is so important to ensure only green janitorial chemicals and supplies are used in your facility.

Ever since a 1984 World Health Organization report suggested up to 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings worldwide may be linked to aliments and symptoms of sick building syndrome (SBS), there has is an ever-increasing awareness of what poor indoor air quality can do to building occupants and guests.

There are many more reasons to strive for a safe, green, clean result. Here are seven shocking facts that serve as additional reasons.

Indoor air pollution levels can be 100 times higher than outdoor air pollution levels, according to the EPA estimates!
Fewer than 200 of the 62,000 chemicals available since the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) was passed in 1979 have been tested for chronic impact on human health.
It takes only 26 seconds for a toxic chemical to get into our body! Chemicals enter into our body through inhalation, ingestion and absorption through our largest organ (our skin).
Asthma has increased in the last 20 years over 600 percent. Today, twenty (20) million people in the USA (including 6.1 million children) have asthma. Asthma accounts for more than 14 million outpatient clinic visits and near 2 million energy room visits.
The average person can be exposed 82,000 toxins to in their daily life. (Of the estimated 85,000 chemicals in the U.S. marketplace, only a small fraction of them have ever been tested for their chronic impacts to human health. While Europe has banned 1,100 chemicals from use in products, the U.S. has banned fewer than ten.)
Ever since the flu pandemic a couple of years ago, many different varieties and brands of antimicrobial soaps, cleaners, sanitizers, have been formulated and available. Unfortunately 275 of the ingredients in anti-microbials are classified as pesticides. US EPA classifies these active ingredients as pesticides because they are designed to KILL microbes.
Cancer rates have doubled since 1960. The cancer rate in 1900 was about 1 in 8,000, Today it is about 1 in 2 during a lifetime. Even with treatment many of these cancers are the cause of death.

Cleaning supplies and products are a huge industry. In fact about $14 Billion is spent each YEAR. For example, in a single state (California) it has been estimated that the following has been sold every single day of the year: 34 tons (or 68,000 pounds) of air fresheners; 74,000 tons (147 million pounds) of all-purpose cleaners, 109 tons (or 218,000 pounds) of toilet bowl cleaners, 102 tons (or 204,000 pounds) of glass cleaners (Source: California Air Resources Board). Recapping this is about the same volume as is contained in twenty-four (24) Olympic size swimming pools! If this is the volume of liquid cleaners sold in one state on one day, can you imagine how much is consumed in the entire country (USA)!

As a result of the demands generated by the end users (building owners and facility managers), new formulations ensure green janitorial chemicals and supplies have high efficacy and are becoming more cost-effective all of the time.

Rae Ann Dougherty, President of Green Cleaning Products LLC, invites you to learn the why and how of greening your office, commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities http://greencleaningproductsllc.com/commercial-green-clean/. At the same time, get your free gift by subscribing to the information packed Green Living News at http://greencleaningproductsllc.com/newsletter-signup/

(c) Copyright - Rae Ann Dougherty. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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What Manufacturers Should Consider Before Purchasing Degreasing Solvents

ByTimothy Byron

Getting rid of grease, carbon deposits, coal, dust, water-based paints, and fuel oil is no sweat with high quality aqueous degreasing solvents. Any dirty surface or grimy piece of equipment can be cleaned easily with an aqueous solvent, provided it is not a material that would be damaged by normal water contact. Manufacturing facilities frequently use these cleaners for tanks, power washing, and various mechanical applications. There are two types of solvent cleaners available, featuring some differences that may not seem important to manufacturers until they take a closer look. Although each is used to clean the same tough areas manufacturing plants always struggle with, some citrus industrial degreasing products are highly flammable, even as an aqueous solution. Facilities with expensive machinery, large stock inventories, and valuable employees simply cannot risk losing everything over choosing the wrong cleaner. Organic and biodegradable formulas are the preferred choice of many manufacturers, for very simple reasons:

Organic solutions are non-flammable. Sometimes all it takes is a slight accident, short lapse in judgment, or basic human error to bring a multi-faceted operation to a screeching halt. Employees are not perfect. That is why OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) provides specific guidelines to determine what a hazardous workplace environment entails, in order to protect everyone in a manufacturing facility. These rules not only benefit employees, they ease the minds of business owners who cannot even imagine what it would be like to lose productivity in the event of a fire or even worse, losing the life of a hard-working employee over something so easily preventable.
Biodegradable cleaners deteriorate naturally after they are used. Using a biodegradable industrial degreasing product is safer for the environment, as well as more convenient for manufacturers. The common challenges associated with proper disposal of toxic compounds takes time and effort away from daily manufacturing operations. Chemicals that require strict conditions just to throw them away will not only reduce productivity, they directly impact annual business profits. Many toxic compounds actually cost money to throw them away, due to the need to hire a waste management company for careful handling and processing.
Degreasing solvents that are non-corrosive help to avoid losing products and equipment when they simply need to be cleaned. Part of having a routine sanitation policy in place is not only to maintain a safe manufacturing facility for employees, but to extend the life of expensive materials that are used on a daily basis. In addition to metal, rubber and plastic components often play an integral role in factory operations. Toxic cleaning chemicals cause rubber and plastic applications to deteriorate after long periods of exposure, or sometimes instantly eat away at them depending on the strength of the agent being used. To protect your overhead budget, and avoid having to replace equipment more frequently, try an industrial degreasing solution that is designed for heavy-duty cleaning on multiple surfaces.

Understanding your options between degreasing solvents is an essential part of making decisions that will benefit your entire manufacturing facility. Choosing organic, biodegradable, and non-corrosive industrial degreasing formulas protects the environment by reducing the amount of toxins that are released into the air. As if that weren't enough, organic degreasing solvents also lead to safer workplaces for employees, higher levels of quality control, and more effective cost solutions for manufacturers.

Degreasing solvents used throughout the manufacturing industry are compared to organic industrial degreasing products, for business owners to determine which is more beneficial.

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