Chemicals: School Says No To Nonylphenol Ethoxylates

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Custodians at Burnaby schools, British Columbia, Canada, one of Canada’s larger school systems, are now using only Green-certified cleaners to clean the districts schools and offices.

One reason for the change is that the district discovered a number of the conventional cleaners contain nonylphenol ethoxylates, known to cause birth defects and possibly change hormone levels in pregnant women.

The chemical has even been called a “gender bender,” because it is known to “feminize” male fish by inhibiting male hormones from developing in the fetus.

The school district switched to using only EcoLogo-certified cleaners and only those made by Enviro-Solutions, a leading manufacturer of Green cleaning chemicals and products.

But do the new Green chemicals work?

Health and Safety Officer Terry Gomez says the school custodians now prefer the Enviro-Solutions products. “They find them equally effective to the [conventional] cleaners they were using before.”

And another benefit: because they are highly concentrated, they are more cost effective to boot.