Are the Marriott Hotels “Truly Green and Environmentally Friendly to Indoor Air

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Are the Marriott Hotels " Truly Green and Environmentally Friendly to

Indoor Air

Quality " ?

Las Vegas, NV 89126 July 9 2007

One has to ask what does Marriott perceive the terms Green Hotel and

Clean Air

Initiatives to mean?

Marriott's numerous achievements in sustainable environmental

practices are to

be lauded. Their worldwide implementation of certain environmental

practices is

in concert with other sustainable organizations and accepted

protocols.

Marriott instituted a corporate wide policy that all their

properties are to be

smoke free.

The smoke free policy raises some interesting questions. If truly a

corporate

wide policy, why when Marriott Customer Care was called regarding a

guest

smoking in a room, did the customer service representative

state: " We don't

handle that, only the individual hotel managers do " . Even when

informed that the

hotel manager did not do anything about this issue there was no

further

suggestions as to how to have this resolved.

Many people think eliminating tobacco smoke in the indoor

environment, is

sufficient to address respiratory issues. The flaw in that

perception is that

there are numerous other inhalants that can and often will damage the

respiratory tract, including but not limited to, air fresheners,

cleaning

products, fragrances, pesticides, air borne particulates and other

irritants.

Under the Marriott's Environmentally Conscious Hospitality

Operations program

(ECHO), to quote their website: " focuses on water and energy

conservation, clean

air initiatives, wildlife preservation, " reduce-reuse-recycle " waste

management,

and clean-up campaigns. "

Marriott's International Environmental Practices are committed

to: " Protecting

the air we breathe. Many of our hotels have helped reduce greenhouse

gases by

replacing existing heating, ventilation and cooling equipment with

more

efficient systems, often in partnership with local utilities. " The

main problem

with their commitment is that Marriott has consistently neglected to

address the

indoor air quality issues inside their facilities relating to

respiratory

conditions (such as asthma), according to Angel De Fazio, President

of the

National Toxic Encephalopathy Foundation (NTEF).

Marriott is in the hotel and hospitality service business. Their

guests spend a

lot of time in these possible environmentally irritating

surroundings, due to

their lack of information regarding indoor air quality issues. This

is

especially important to those who have respiratory diseases.

Asthma as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services,

Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention: " …is a disease that affects your

lungs. It is

the most common long-term disease of children, but adults have

asthma, too.

Asthma causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest

tightness,

and nighttime or early morning coughing. If you have asthma, you

have it all the

time, but you will have asthma attacks only when something bothers

your lungs. "

According to P. K. Jeffery, the author of " Remodeling in asthma and

chronic

obstructive lung disease " in the American Journal of Respiratory

Critical Care

Medicine, 2001 Nov 15;164(10 Pt 2):S28-38; Asthma is a chronic

inflammatory and

obstructive disease.

The number of people afflicted with asthma is staggering and

increasing each

year. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, by

Lara Akinbami,

M.D., Office of Analysis and Epidemiology, 2005, " an estimated 7.7%

of people

(22.2 million) currently had asthma. Rates decreased with age; 8.9%

of children

(6.5 million) had asthma. "

When calling the Marriott's Tulsa Southern Hills Hotel to book a

room, the front

desk asserted that they did not use any fragrances in their HVAC or

their rooms.

The hotel guest who had her asthma exacerbated by the fragrance

noticed in her

room later challenged their assertion.

As an accommodation, the hotel utilized an Alpine commercial ozone

unit to clean

the air in the room. When the fragrance that was, according to the

guest,

pervasive throughout the hotel was not remediated by the first

application, the

machine was re-run.

During the second running of the machine, the two housekeeping

employees who

delivered it to the room, notified the hotel guest, that it could be

used all

night if the guest so desired. A lack of training by the

housekeeping department

is demonstrated by, the in room application of the air cleaner while

the guest

was in the room, and this is a serious health issue. The first

running of the

machine, which was handled by the front desk, they had informed the

hotel guest

to return in 45 minutes, to allow them to properly treat the room.

According to a representative of their housekeeping department, this

unit in

addition to emitting ozone, releases low levels of radiation. Ozone

is known to

be a respiratory irritant.

Upon approaching Marriott Corporate, the guest requested them to

provide

information regarding the cleaning products used in the room, the

make and model

of the machine, anything used in the HVAC along with any fragrances

that were

introduced into the building. They initially agreed to provide the

requested

information then refused to release the information along with the

related

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). Instead they had the room

tested. According

to Judy Rapich, Marriott's Western Regional Liaison; " The property

had an

independent, environmental testing company brought in; which has

reported room

833 has been inspected. As well, the air-handling unit was inspected

and is in

normal working order. They did not find any air treatment products

or variance

of normal housekeeping. "

Their analysis did not address the chemicals that were used; it only

served to

confirm that whatever they found in that room was consistent

throughout their

property. According to De Fazio, the conditions upon which they

tested the room

are suspect. Was their Ozone machine run at the same time and for

the same

duration of time; were the air exchanges consistent or did they

vary, predicated

upon the time of day. Without identical replication regarding the

condition of

the room, their findings are invalid.

In an analysis of one of Marriott's " Green Hotels " the Seaview

Resort and Spa in

Galloway, NJ, the NTEF has obtained the Material Safety Data Sheets

(MSDS) for

some of their cleaning products and an air freshener. These products

are

primarily supplied by Ecolab and supposedly used in all Marriott

properties.

What was found in the products were chemicals that according to

their individual

MSDS sheets carried health hazard information inferring the

possibility, of

causing respiratory tract irritation. This particular property used

Ecolab's

First Impression Juniper Splash Micro Aerosol. According to the

front desk

manager, this fragrance was automatically dispensed into the hotel,

but, did not

contain anything that was harmful to the environment.

Ecolab's own MSDS sheet under Hazards Identification (Section 3)

states: " Avoid

breathing vapor or mist. May cause Respiratory Tract Irritation. "

Toxicological

Information (Section 11) states: " Chronic effects on humans-

Contains material

which causes damage to the following organs: blood, the nervous

system, the

reproductive system, liver, mucous membranes, upper respiratory

tract, skin,

central nervous system (CNS), eye, lens, cornea " .

In researching the referenced ingredients in Ecolab's aerosol's MSDS

we found:

1. Propan2-ol 5-10% by weight, which carries a toxicology reference

citing: " May

be harmful by inhalation, ingestion or skin absorption. May act as

an irritant. "

2. Ethanol,2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)- 1-5% by weight.

3. Propane- oxybis 10-30% by weight, which carries a toxicology

reference

citing: " Causes damage to the following organs: Skin, eyes. Harmful

by

inhalation. "

4. Propane 10-30% by weight, which carries a toxicology reference

citing: " May

be harmful if inhaled. Asphyxiant at high concentrations. "

5. Fragrance 10-30% by weight, (this is a generic reference usually

under the

guise of propriety blend).

6. Butane 10-30% by weight, which carries a toxicology reference

citing: " May be

harmful if inhaled. Can cause rapid suffocation. Eye irritant.

Narcotic. "

7. 2-Methylpentane-2,4-diol 5-10% by weight. " It irritates the eyes

and the

mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. "

8. Ethanol 1-5% by weight, which carries a toxicology reference

citing: " Causes

skin and eye irritation. "

Incorporation of the lowest referenced percentages; this product

contains 40% of

the disclosed ingredients that can irritate the respiratory tract.

Could these

findings, in association with their ozone machine create more

irritants? One can

only extrapolate.

Twenty one years ago, the effects of fragrances upon asthmatics was

known

" …alarming 72% of asthmatic attacks are triggered by perfume and

cologne " .

" Effects of Odors on Asthma " Shim, Chang, M.D., , M. Henry,

Jr., The

American Journal of Medicine, Volume 80, January 1986, pp. 18-22.

Marriott has been sued regarding their use of pesticides that carry

their own

inherent health risks. The litigation references an incident that

happened in

2004, at the Wailea Marriott Hotel in Maui, Hawaii. Marriott it

appears, allowed

a guest's room to be sprayed while the guests were still residing in

it.

In information obtained thru court documents " there were three men

standing in

her room, two of whom were wearing masks, had tanks on their backs,

and were

spraying pesticides from the tanks with a spray wand attachment. The

room was

cloudy and had a thick, rancid, acrid odor " . Plaintiffs have

presented evidence

that the tanks were customarily used to spray Demand CS and/or

Suspend SE

insecticide. Ecolab provided the extermination services for this

hotel on a

quarterly basis.

It is unknown if the Wailea Marriott is continuing with this

quarterly spraying

protocol, along with what pesticides their guests are being exposed

to. At the

Marriott's Seaview Resort and Spa, they spray monthly both the

exterior and each

individual room according to their front desk personnel, as a

precautionary

measure.

For a hotel chain that professes to be green, the myriad of

chemicals that they

use indoors refutes their own statement " clean air initiatives " . One

can only

wonder, why Marriott does not perceive that their clean air

initiatives needs to

incorporate indoor air quality as an effort desirous of more control

and their

continuous attention.

Angel De Fazio, B.S.A.T. (Angel@...)

President

National Toxic Encephalopathy Foundation (NTEF)

POB 29194

Las Vegas, NV 89126

Phone : 702.598.3382

Contact Angel De Fazio, B.S.A.T.

[Guest guest]

I don't mean to go against Angels' article since I am very impressed

with Angel and her work but somewhat in Marriott's defense, they

say 'green' and not MCS safe. Few people really understand indoor air

quality and they need better advice. Just to be trying to a good

thing. I think Angel would make a great consultant for hotels trying

to clean up their act. There is so much to learn.

A hotel can hardly go without spraying for insects. Can you imagine

people staying there and seeing a bug crossing the floor, the

complaints a hotel would get. We might think the bug is better than

pesticide but they have to cater to a million different

personalities. Many of their hotels have kitchenettes and people cook

and eat in rooms. It would be difficult to control insects. In our

own homes we can put sticky traps down, avoid bugs by keeping areas

clean and free of food but Marriott will have people in that eat and

leave food around, etc. I applaud their effort but then I believe

they are trying.

I stayed a a Marriott chain for a few months. I thought it had a

chemical smell in parts but then I am not mcs. I did very well

there. Best I have done anywherer so far but I think 'organic smells'

are a problem for me more, indicating unclean conditions, like you

would find in older buildings or unclean buildings, but not yet anyway

strongly affected by chemical odors. I wish the chemical odors were

not there. They concerned me. They were constantly painting but also

constantly cleaning. My room monthly they washed everything, putting

light fixture glass etc in dish washing machine. I do think perhaps

bed and breakfasts for mcs people, and perhaps myself where owners

live in house may be healthiest environment. I have slide backward

every since leaving the Marriott I was in as apartment I have although

pretty clean by average standards, is not as clean as the Marriott I

was in, and better than my own house which has attic air coming

in...just a little now, as much has been stopped by sealing, which is

not completed yet, a slow process, a bit of house at a time.

They are promising too much but I doubt they know how it.

--- In , " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...>

wrote:

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