This month’s Green Selling Tip covers disinfectants.  Again, I’d like to encourage you to review DestinationGreen Issue 2; Building the Bundle.  Remember, your customers (building owners & managers and contractors) are trying to create a healthy, high performing environment for the occupants of their building, while at the same time reducing environmental impacts.  Thus, I recommend more of a “program” approach (see DestinationGreen Issue 3: The Pilot Process) to assess the entire cleaning process and only then recommend specific products as part of a complete bundle or program.  Not only will this be better for your customers, but it will be better for your sales and commissions.

Let’s again quickly review what makes a green or environmentally preferable product.  Remember, when you are selling green, you are NOT suggesting that traditional products are “bad”.  Rather, green or environmentally preferable disinfectants and sanitizers simply recognize that newer technologies can kill the same target organisms (bugs) as registered with EPA, but can do so while reducing impacts on health and the environment.

But before we get into a specific discussion about the selection of disinfectants and sanitizers, it is important to point out that technically there is NO such thing as a “safe” disinfectant.  This is because disinfectants and sanitizers by their basic nature are “toxic” because they are specifically designed to kill living things. 

While disinfectants are an important tool in our toolbox to protect public health, there is a growing concern that they are being overused and in some cases the products themselves have serious potential health and environmental problems associated with them.  So before we even begin to select the greenest alternative for our customers/prospects, we should consider opportunities to reduce the use of these products.  In many cases a detergent-based cleaner is all that is necessary to remove the soils (which will also remove the harmful organism), reserving the disinfectants only for areas of increased risk. 

So what makes a disinfectant green, especially when there are no standards or certification programs (i.e. Green Seal) for this category of products?  Because “green” is a comparison to traditional products, I think it is helpful to think of them on a spectrum with some being more hazardous to health and/or the environment compared to others.  And thus our goal in selecting a “green” disinfectant/sanitizer is to move the customer/prospect from a more hazardous product to a less hazardous alternative.

Now let’s consider some of the traditional disinfectants which we are comparing to.

Sodium hypochlorite or chlorine bleach is a commonly used traditional disinfectant/sanitizer.  It is extremely effective against harmful organisms, but it is also a known respiratory irritant, corrosive (burns) eyes and skin, and if accidentally mixed with other common cleaning products it will produce a poisonous gas.  Thus, if your customer/prospect is using chlorine bleach, a greener alternative would be a comparable performing disinfectant/sanitizer, approved by EPA that kills the target organisms, but does so without being a respiratory irritant, corrosive to eyes or skin, or one that does not produce a poisonous gas upon mixing with other cleaning agents.

Phenol-based disinfectants are still commonly used, especially as part of OSHA’s Blood Borne Pathogen Standard.  Phenols (CAS #108-95-2) are suspected of being a developmental, reproductive, respiratory and major organ toxicant.  And they frequently have a high pH making them corrosive to eyes and skin, and damaging to floor finishes and other surfaces.  Thus, if your customer/prospect is using a phenol-based disinfectant, a greener alternative would be a comparable performing product, approved by EPA that kills the target organisms, but does so without having the same health concerns or damaging finishes.  And as far as the Blood Borne Pathogen Standard, a greener alternative would be a product that has been proven effective about HIV-1 and Hepatitis B (HBV) but with reduced impacts on health and the environment.

Quat-based disinfectants and sanitizers have reduced health impacts compared to bleach and phenols, although some consider it an asthmagen (causes asthma).  Quats are also considered to be toxic to aquatic life.  And due to the wide array of formulations using quats as the active ingredient, the final disinfectant product may have an extreme pH which can cause eye and skin irritation and be high in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) due to the addition of fragrances contributing to respiratory irritation.  Thus, if your customer/prospect is using a quat-based disinfectant, a greener alternative would be a comparable performing disinfectant/sanitizer, approved by EPA that kills the target organisms, but does so without being toxic to aquatic life or an asthmagen.  Plus, depending on the other attributes such as pH, VOCs from fragrances, etc., there may be other opportunities to replace the disinfectant with an alternative that further reduces impacts on health and the environment.

Hydrogen peroxide-based sanitizers in the 4% concentration range have an improved health and environmental profile compared to most other disinfectants and sanitizers.  However, these products are typically sanitizers and not disinfectant and may not be appropriate in high risk applications, but may be preferable in many general applications where a sanitizer would be preferable compared to a detergent-based cleaner.

Selling disinfectants is one of the best categories of products to help us remember that “green” is more than just whether the product is “certified” or not.  If you learn the real issues behind green or environmental preferability and develop the ability to help create programs that reduce impacts on health and the environment compared to traditional products, you’ll go a long way towards helping your customers and prospects.  And because your customers are going to be buying their “green” disinfectants/sanitizers from someone – I’d prefer it’s from you!

Good selling!