Better safe than sorry
The recent melamine scare has put the use of chemicals in our lives (and workplaces) back on the agenda. RFP investigates.
Liquid toxins are poured daily on our cutlery, our desks, our baths, our clothes. Some are known toxins others are new or we just don’t know. If your job is to clean or to buy the cleaning equipment then these nasties are just the beginning of your troubles.
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| The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action. |
Healthy and green procurement has become the top requirement for facilities and food service professionals especially after the melamine scare in China. Can’t see the connection? Imagine that an employee makes lunch in the staff pantry, straight on the bench — say she chops up an apple — and in the process of doing this traces of the cleanser with which the bench was cleaned attaches itself to the apple. She then eats it. She does this everyday. It’s probably harmless. In places where standards are rigorously enforced we are pretty sure that even conventional products are unlikely to kill any one. Well, not right away anyhow.
In places where standards are not enforced no one really knows. That is only a problem if the increased trend towards applying the precautionary principal to purchasing decisions takes off like everyone is predicting it to. There are many definitions but basically, it requires a company or individual to do their research before doing anything that might hurt someone even if they don’t know if or how it might be harmful. Wikipedia cites Raffensberger C. & J. Tickner in Protecting Public Health and the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle, as saying: “The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action”. Look before you leap.
It often applies to actions that destroy the environment The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle but equally applies to the copious new and untested chemicals that are used in commercial cleaning products. In 2005, the City of San Francisco passed the Precautionary Principle Purchasing ordinance, enshrining the precautionary principle into all city purchasing decisions including cleaning supplies. The ordinance states “A central element of the precautionary approach is the careful assessment of available alternatives using the best available science This process allows fundamental questions to be asked: “Is this potentially hazardous activity necessary?” “What less hazardous options are available?” and “How little damage is possible?” When Greenpeace put together their Chemical Home report they stated that the precautionary principle was likely to become a health and environmental standard. It assessed companies commitment to environmental goals through thier application of the principle in their product development process. Companies involved in the project included cleaning product manufacturers, such as Unilever, as well as electronics manufacturers and sporting goods suppliers.
what to avoid
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| In 2005, the City of San Francisco passed the Precautionary Principle Purchasing ordinance, enshrining the precautionary principle into all city purchasing decisions including cleaning supplies. |
Chemicals used in cleaning are some of the most dangerous to human health, especially in unregulated, unsupervised or developing markets. Global bodies such as the World Health Organisation have chemical substitution programmes in place for a variety of chemicals commonly used in the workplace. Find out about their work and a link to many sites at www.who.int/ifcs/en/. However as Greenpeace notes in the Chemical home report “for most businesses, substitution is not a quick fix but a long and complex process involving suppliers, customer feedback and external authorities, as well as a lot of work internally.” Governments play a part in regulating the use and labelling of chemicals. Rico Leung, Quality Assurance Manager, ISS, points to occupational health and safety regulations in Hong Kong which state that generally, all cleaning equipment should be labelled with a logo according to a set of categories. (e.g. Harmful or toxic). This should be supplied with the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) giving the cleaning material details, specifically emergency handling in case of being eaten or spilt. See the following for more information: www. legislation.gov.hk/eng/home.htm.
what we don’t know is probably hurting us
Unless you are a cleaning company, cleaning and janitorial services are a cost. While they are essential and doubtless capable of adding value to the business, they are generally pushed to keep costs as low as possible while keeping quality at an acceptable standard. Products are designed with this in mind. Leung says “As the cost of raw materials is growing everyday, the price of cleaning materials is rising as well. To minimize the impact of cost the manufacturers are developing the material with better concentration formula with same or better performance which minimize the cost of bottle size, delivery etc. Materials with better concentration will have better performance.”
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| Images courtesy of JohnsonDiversey |
Unfortunately higher concentrations or new products are not thoroughly tested for safety not to mention the horrific effects that some of these products have on the environment. This is why the market is awash with healthy and environmentally friendly cleaning options. The problem with many ‘greener’ solutions is that there are few definitions as to what ‘green’, ‘natural’ or ‘non-toxic’ means — are they safe to drink? Some standards are beginning to emerge, for example the extent to which the product is bio-degradable, the percentage of recycled material and, best of the bunch, third party certification. The problem with products that boast a reduced chemical content is that, short of having an in depth knowledge of inorganic compounds, it is hard to know the benefits. Even the people who made the products don’t know how it will react in any given environment. This is why the application of the precautionary principle is so significant.
Large manufacturers such as Johnson Diversey are coming up with less caustic alternatives, although according to Chemical House research, in general smaller companies are more readily able to change. The demand is coming at the service level. Keith Futcher, CEO, ISS Hong Kong, says more progressive clients require his company to use specific materials selected for “eco-reasons.” He says that this means “a substitution of process. As a rule of thumb, the more eco-friendly the compounds then the more elbow-grease to be applied.” Eco product manufacturers such as Envirosense refute this claim. The demand is definitely there. “On the topic of healthy space we are seeing an increasing awareness of this among our clients operating Grade A Commercial properties, high-end hotels, and of course hospitals. This is driven by two factors. First an increased awareness of the benefits of increased hygiene arising from our community experience of SARS and Avian Flu. Second, that it is a differentiating factor in attracting high value individuals in terms of their workplace,”says Futcher. He uses an example of indoor air duct cleaning services, including a 12 test assessment of air quality that includes measuring surface contaminants on inaccessible surfaces in the airway systems. “This sort of hygiene is less tangible to the users of the indoor space, which is why progressive clients require us to do post cleaning testing and certification of the air quality delivered.” It is an important topic for any facility manager and ISS have an entire division devoted to cleaning technology and a regional head of “cleaning innovations”.
San Francisco looks forward to the time when the City’s power is generated from renewable sources, when all our waste is recycled, when our vehicles produce only potable water as emissions, when the Bay is free from toxins, and the oceans are free from pollutants. The Precautionary Principle provides a means to help us attain these goals as we evaluate future laws and policies in such areas as transportation, construction, land use, planning, water, energy, health care, recreation, purchasing, and public expenditure.
Transforming our society to realize these goals and achieving a society living respectfully with the bounds of nature will take a behavioural as well as technological revolution. The Precautionary approach to decision-making will help San Francisco speed this process of change by moving beyond finding cures for environmental ills to preventing the ills before they can do harm.
Unlike the general population, facilities managers and cleaners can choose whether they will make potentially lethal decisions regarding the chemicals used to clean and maintain the buildings we occupy. According to the San Francisco city government, one of the reasons for using the precautionary principle is to include citizens in decisions affecting their health and environment. Shouldn’t we, the people occupying buildings for 80 percent of our lives, have some say in dangers we might be exposed to within them?
The scary thing about the Melamine scare is not that impoverished farmers were deliberately faking the protein levels of milk by adding a potentially lethal chemical to the mix. The scary thing is that Melamine is made of coal. After the dog food Melamine debacle a few years ago, studies were done on Melamine levels in humans in China discovering that increased concentrations could be found in the umbilical cords of children of women living in areas of higher coal production.
