By Nancy Hiler and Mary Malloy
The goal is to minimize the exposure of children and school staff to the potentially harmful common chemicals in cleaning fluids. "We installed an entire new green cleaning system," said Allan Scotto, director of facilities and operations for the Lynbrook school district. "As a matter of fact, Lynbrook was one of the first districts to completely convert over to green products."
Scotto explained that the new cleaning solutions come in concentrated form, with mixing mechanisms that pre-measure and dispense them according to the manufacturers' specifications. "All the cleaning products we use are approved by New York state, as required," he said. "Some are hydrogen peroxide based, and none contain anything that is harmful."
East Rockaway's director of school facilities and operations, Jim Ristano, said that his district began cleaning green a few years ago. "We have been proactive with this way before the September 2006 deadline," Ristano said. "We started at Centre Avenue [Elementary School] a few years ago, as a target school, then Rhame Avenue School, and then the high school." He explained that the product used by the schools is an orange-based chemical, and that it is used in different strengths for a variety of jobs.
Reducing children's exposure
The new state law came about after environmentalists, parents of children with asthma and other illnesses, health professionals and other child advocates voiced concern in Albany about children's exposure to chemicals found in cleaning and other products used in schools. New York is the sixth state to pass a "green-clean" law for its schools, joining Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.
"Children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental toxins, as are fetuses," said Patti Wood, a founder of Grassroots Environmental Education, a nonprofit child environmental health advocacy group in Port Washington. The latter is a big issue among young teachers, who often work in schools while pregnant, Wood said. Nearly 55 million people, close to 20 percent of the U.S. population, spend time daily in elementary and secondary schools, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools initiative.
Children's heightened susceptibility is attributable to several factors, according to the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, including the fact that children's neurological, immunological, digestive and other bodily systems are still developing. A growing body of scientific research indicates that children are at a disproportionatly high risk for health and developmental problems resulting from exposure to chemical toxins in the environment, the CCHE reports.
Schools throughout the state must use only "environmentally sensitive" products once the potentially toxic ones on their shelves are depleted. Synonymous with what the EPA calls environmentally preferable, these products "have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared to other products and services that serve the same purpose," the law states.
A list of recommended cleaning products approved for use in schools was published in late August by the Office of General Services, the procurement contract wing of the state government. The 350 products on the OGS list are mercury-free and nontoxic, meaning they cannot contain any ingredients that are known to be poisons, carcinogens or toxins that can affect a fetus or a woman's reproductive system.
Also under the new law, school districts are expected to explore ways to reduce pollutants and their sources while cleaning buildings. One example is burnishing floors less frequently, since it generates considerable dust and adds to indoor air pollution. Another is the use of HEPA-filter vacuums to contain dust particles. Additionally, recyclable and environmentally friendly paper products, including paper towels and toilet tissue, are encouraged.
A bounty of green cleaners
The new green cleaning products used in local schools are water-based, not petrochemical-based, and many contain natural extracts such as citrus. The law requires green general cleaners and disinfectants in schools, but does not encompass floor finishing, wax or certain specialized products. Environmentalists, including Wood, believe regulations should be expanded to cover these products as well.
Lessons for custodians
State regulations recommend that custodians be trained properly in the use of environmentally sensitive cleaners. For example, they need to learn about proper mixing in closed dispensers or using sealed containers to avoid contact with concentrates. Generally, products are manufactured as concentrates so they take up less storage space and weigh less to reduce shipping costs. Custodians in all local elementary districts and the high school district were fully trained before they began using the new products, their administrators said.
Does green cleaning work?
"About a decade ago, green cleaning wasn't an attractive proposition," said Joel Makower, founder of the nonprofit Green Business Network. "The products were often expensive, hard to find, and many didn't even work that well. Today dozens of mainstream companies, from 3M to Johnson Wax, make quality green-cleaning products, often at costs comparable to their conventional counterparts."
According to Scotto, there have been no complaints from any members of his staff about the ability of the product to do the job in the Lynbrook schools. "The instructions seem to work just fine," he said.
The cost of going green
For the most part, local facilities directors said that final cost figures were not in. Other Long Island schools said that their startup costs made green products 5 to 15 percent more expensive, at least initially.
According to Ristano, the schools are allowed to use up any old cleaning supplies that remain. "We followed the process of not wasting money by throwing away inventory," Ristano said. "It's not just about cleaning. It's an umbrella of cleaning, ergonomics -- like a broad spectrum of being efficient and not wasting."
Comments about this story? MMalloy@liherald.com or 569-4000 ext. 202.
Photos by Mary Malloy/Herald
