Missouri's Green Cleaning in Schools

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I hope I can get some help from you all. I am on a

Missouri Statewide committee. We are tasked for developing voluntary

guidelines and specifications green cleaning of Missouri Schools.

We were given the Illinois green cleaning document and told to use

that as a template. It can be viewed at:

http://www.standingupforillinois.org/uploads/GreenCleanFinalGuidelines.pdf

One of the issues we are discussing is that the document is not

created for the vulnerable population in the school buildings. During

the Missouri meeting we were told that there would be an understanding

that if there is someone who is vulnerable can not tolerate the

cleaner the some of the options could be the school can switch

products for that person, ask the person to leave while the cleaning

is being done or do the work after hours.

So my questions are as follows:

1. 60% of green seal products contain fragrances. How long can the

fragrances remain in the air or in porous material? When a student,

teacher or staff is extremely sensitive they can detect and react to

levels that many people can not detect.

2. We were told that fragrances and dyes were used in product for

safety reasons. For instance the illiterate and international

employees will know from the color and smell what the product is, the

coloring dye is used so the students will not drink the cleaning

product and that some people think that clean smells like pine sol, mr

clean or some other cleaning scent. Can anyone help me understand if

there are real concerns or not?

3. Can some one explain the sink effect?

4. Does the air quality in neighboring rooms on the same ventilation

system affect all rooms? For instance, can a fragrance free cleaner

be used in one room and it be effective in keeping that classroom

fragrance free or does the building share common air through the

breathing of the building?

5. What other concerns do you have regarding the Illinois document?

Thanks for your time.

I will share your comments with the rest of the committee.

Jeanne Hunt