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44 Sanitation Canada - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2008 Visit us on the Internet at www.sanitationcanada.com FINAL VERSION OF GS-37 RELEASED BY GREEN SEAL Green Seal has released the revision of GS-37 – its environmental standard for institutional and industrial cleaning products – after more than a year and one half of stakeholder involvement, rigorous discussion, enhancements and updates reflecting advances in cleaning technology, toxicology, health science and awareness of health concerns (e.g. air emissions, endocrine disruptors and asthmagens, etc.). A key focus of the revised GS-37 is protect- ing sensitive and vulnerable populations such as children. "The primary goal of the GS-37 re- vision – the fourth revision since GS- 37's original release in 2000 – is to en- sure that it continues to represent an environmental leadership standard in household use, food preparation opera- tions or medical facilities, nor does it apply to air fresheners, enzymatic or microbially active products, or prod- ucts required to be registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Ro- denticide Act, such as those making claims as sterilizers, disinfectants or sanitizers. The revision of GS-37 has been man- aged by Green Seal with the help of an executive committee including: New York State; the Healthy Schools Net- work Inc.; a pediatric health expert from the Medical University of South Carolina; TerraChoice, administrator of the EcoLogo Program; and ISSA, the trade association of the cleaning indus- try. Major funding was provided by the marketplace and, vitally, to in- corporate criteria that fully protects human health, in- cluding that of chil- dren and custodial workers," said Arthur Weissman, Ph.D., president New York State. Many expert sources assisted throughout the technical develop- ment of the stand- ard, including: the University of Ten- nessee Centre for Clean Products and and CEO of Green Seal. GS-37 establishes environmental re- quirements for institutional and indus- trial general-purpose, restroom, glass and carpet cleaners; products intended for routine cleaning of offices, institu- tions, warehouses and industrial facili- ties. The revised standard criteria em- phasizes consideration of vulnerable populations in institutional settings such as schools, day-care facilities, nurs- ing homes and other facilities. GS-37 also requires the products meet performance benchmarks set by organizations such as ASTM, the Car- pet and Rug Institute and the Con- sumer Specialty Products Association, and/or that products meet or exceed performance norms for conventional, nationally-recognized products in the same category and at equivalent prod- uct-specific use directions. GS-37 does not include cleaners for Clean Technologies; GREENGUARD Environmental Institute; the Division of Environmental Health Assessment for the New York State Department of Health; the Occupational Health Surveillance Program for the Massachu- setts Department of Public Health; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Division of Respiratory Disease Studies; the Southwest Centre for Pediatric Envi- ronmental Health at the University of Texas Health Centre at Tyler; and product development experts; among others. Washington, DC-based RE- SOLVE – a non-profit organization specializing in consensus building proc- esses in public decision making – helped facilitate stakeholder involvement. The GS-37 Standard can be downloaded at www.greenseal.org/certi- f i c a t i o n / s t a n d a r d s / G S - 37_Industrial_Cleaner_Standard.pdf. A key focus of the revised GS-37 is protecting sensitive and vulnerable populations such as children.