Steve Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group and executive director of the Green Cleaning Network along with Bill Balek of ISSA and other representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Workgroup on Comparative Claims recommended that the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs establish a policy that would allow suppliers of “green” disinfectants and sanitizers to use the EPA Design for the Environment logo as well as to make limited factual statements related to the product’s environmental attributes. The recommendations were made at the recent meeting of the Pesticide Policy Dialogue Committee conducted at EPA offices in Arlington, VA.

The recommendations were an outgrowth of a series of meetings conducted by the Workgroup on Comparative Claims that has been exploring the establishment of an EPA policy that would permit claims of environmental preferability to be made in relation to hard surface disinfectants and sanitizers. Details regarding the specific proposals made in relation to the DfE Program and limited factual statements of environmental preferability are outlined below.

Design for the Environment
Over the past several months, the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and the Agency’s Design for the Environment program (DfE) have been collaborating in an internal pilot to establish criteria under which hard surface disinfectants and sanitizers would qualify for recognition under the DfE program. Products that met the criteria, yet to be finalized, would be eligible to use the DfE logo in product promotions and on the label.

While the criteria are far from finalized, a preliminary draft indicates that disinfectants and sanitizers would need to meet the criteria listed below in order to qualify for DfE recognition:
The product may not contain any carcinogens.
Recognition would not be conferred on those products that fell into acute toxicity categories I and II.
Products must not have any “unresolved” adverse effects reporting issues.
Products must not have any unresolved efficacy failure issues and may not be involved in a current enforcement proceeding.
Only OPP approved statements could be used in conjunction with the DfE logo.
Products may not contain any “unapproved” inert ingredients.
There must not be any outstanding conditional registration data issues.
The product must not require the use of personal protective equipment.
The inert ingredients must be disclosed.
Product shall not present any developmental toxicity concerns.

Please note that the process of defining the specific criteria is in its early stages and will be the subject of much additional discussion and revision before the program is open to industry.

Limited Factual Statements
In addition to allowing the use of the DfE logo, the Workgroup also recommended that EPA establish a policy that allows suppliers to make limited factual statements of environmental preferability in regard to disinfectants and sanitizers. In making this recommendation, it was noted that such claims should be consistent with the principles and criteria of any DfE logo program adopted by OPP.

In making this recommendation, representatives of the Comparative Claims Workgroup indicated that the following types of factual statements should be allowed by OPP:

1. Non-pesticidal factual statements regarding product characteristics other than the pesticide including statements that relate to:
a) Recycled content of the packaging;
b) Content of ink used in printing (i.e., printed with soy based ink); and
c) Source reduction in the packaging.

2. Corporate commitment statements that are non-pesticidal in nature and which do not involve “cause marketing” such as “The XYZ Company is working to reduce its carbon footprint. Go to www.xyz.com to learn more.”

3. Factual statements concerning non-pesticidal properties of disinfectants and sanitizers such as:
a) Fragrance or dye free;
b) Readily biodegradable in water;
c) Contains XX% of plant derived ingredients; and
d) Concentrated to minimize GHG emissions in shipping.

It is anticipated that product registrants will have to use the amendment process in order to be allowed to make any of the limited factual statements of environmental preferability. Moreover, we expect OPP to specifically set forth the factual statements they will allow. In addition, companies would be required to provide the appropriate underlying data to OPP as a prerequisite to making such factual statements, at least initially in a pilot project.

Next Steps
In the next couple of months, the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs and the Design for the Environment will complete work on their internal pilot for the purpose of refining the criteria and factors it will consider in allowing disinfectants and sanitizers to qualify for recognition under the DfE Formulator program.

Once that process is completed, EPA is expected to announce an external pilot in the Summer of 2009 that will allow industry to request the use of the DfE logo and / or make limited factual statements of environmental preferability in relation to disinfectants and sanitizers. The external pilot is expected to be launched in the last quarter of 2009.

It is anticipated that this external pilot will be open to registered disinfectants and sanitizers, and will last 12 to 18 months. Companies who wished to participate would do so by requesting an amendment to their existing registration. During the pilot, OPP would require registrants to submit all relevant data and documentation in support of their request. Public comment on the pilot would be invited before and after the pilot is concluded.

Additional Information

For additional information, please contact Bill Balek, ISSA, 800-225-4772 or Steve Ashkin at 812-332-7950.

back