Members of the CLEANpHIRST™ team are dedicated to helping you create the cleanest environment in which you live. Our goal is for our products and cleaning information to minimize the health risks posed by unwelcome allergens, bacteria, germs and viruses in your home, school, workplace or other location by equipping you with first-in-category cleaning solutions.
EWG tested over 20 cleaners used in schools in California, and detected hundreds of air contaminants not listed as ingredients by manufacturers. Further testing shows that cleaning a model classroom using 3 widely used, certified green products produces far less air pollution than cleaning the same classroom with 3 common conventional cleaners. View the results.
EWG’s findings come at a time when childhood asthma and many childhood cancers are on the rise.
Lax labeling requirements mean that schools often don't know what they're purchasing. Many would be alarmed to learn that when used as directed, Comet Disinfectant Powder Cleanser, a product commonly used in both schools and private homes, released more than 100 air contaminants, including chloroform, benzene, and formaldehyde.
In response to these concerns, many schools have turned to safer cleaning supplies that have been independently certified to meet protective health and safety standards. Eight states have passed legislation requiring or encouraging use of these green cleaning products in schools. Many other forward-thinking school districts have adopted green cleaning policies, replacing toxic products with safer, more effective alternatives with no increase in costs.
Below is a sample letter you can send to your school:
Dear School,
As a concerned citizen, I am writing to learn more about the cleaning supplies used to maintain school facilities. Because cleaning supplies can contain toxic chemicals that can be hazardous to children's health, and can pollute the air with harmful contaminants, I would like to become involved in efforts to assure use of the safest possible products and cleaning methods in my child's school.
As you may know, asthma is a serious issue nationwide. At present, nearly 1 in 10 children in the U.S. suffer from this terrible health condition. Asthma is the leading cause of hospitalization for children under 15, and the primary cause of missed school days due to chronic illness. As you know, it is difficult for students to learn if they are not in school. As more research accumulates, there is growing concern that chemicals in cleaners can contribute to asthma. Cleaning ingredients have also been linked to cancer and other serious health and there are ecological concerns as well.
Fortunately, growing awareness of the health and environmental impacts of cleaning products has led to the development of many effective, cost-competitive, third-party certified green cleaning products. These green cleaners meet strict criteria concerning ingredient safety, resulting in safer products with reduced toxicity to children, teachers, custodians, and school staff. School districts all over the country have made the switch to green cleaners, for the benefit of both students and staff. Many districts have even saved money in the process. Eight states have now passed laws requiring or encouraging use of green cleaners in schools.
Recent research compares the air pollution released by cleaning a model classroom with conventional versus green cleaners. The results are clear -- total levels of air pollution are six times higher in the classroom cleaned with conventional products. Green cleaning products create markedly safe and cleaner indoor air in the classroom -- while achieving the same level of cleanliness. (Learn more at www.ewg.org/schoolcleaningsupplies/)
I would like to learn what cleaners are used in our school, how often they are used, and for what purpose. If these products include certified green cleaners, then I commend you for safeguarding the health of the children under your care. If not, then I urge you to make the switch to certified green cleaners. Use of safer green cleaning products and practices results in cleaning performance equal to or better than that of conventional products and practices, and should not increase overall spending on school maintenance.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to working with you to to ensure that our schools are clean, safe, and healthy for students and staff alike.
This year has caused many educational institutions to examine not only their cleaning products, but their cleaning methods and protocol. Trudi Romano, owner/operator of Apple Tree Academy Preschool in Wentzville, MO is one that researched what products to use. She chose Ultra Clean from CleanpHirst and our CleanpHirst hand sanitizer to protect her building, staff and most importantly, her students. After 2 1/2 months, she is convinced she made the right decision.
While many schools and preschools in the area have experienced absentee levels as high as 30%, Apple Tree has had less than 10% of it's students miss days due to unexpected illness. She attributes these results to the use of DepHyze Ultra Clean as well as CleanpHirsthand sanitizer, which is used by her teachers and when soap and water are not accessible, they are applying the non-toxic, alcohol free formula safely on the students.
Ultra Clean is used throughout the day to keep tables, common surfaces and even toys free from germs. Ultra Clean is also being used at the end of the day as a safer/less toxic alternative to bleach to thoroughly disinfect toys. The single step application is also faster and easier than the 3 step bleach process.
We also suggest using DepHyze 3D, monthly or quarterly, to protect your school, daycare or preschool. It's residual kill effect protects common area without the fear of damaging surfaces.
From The Daily Free Press The City of Boston is well prepared to deal with H1N1 influenza and seasonal flu this fall, but people should be more cautious and informed about ways to prevent flu, city public health officials said Monday.
Representatives from Boston Public Health Commission and Boston Public Schools spoke about the precautions the city is taking regarding H1N1 influenza at a hearing at Freedom House in Dorchester. City Councilor-At-Large John Connolly and City Councilor Charles Yancey of the Committee on Environment and Health and City Councilor Chuck Turner held the hearing.
“We must take this very seriously,” Yancey said. “Far too many people in the city are not taking this seriously.”
Barbara Ferrer, executive director of BPHC, said approximately 23,000 people have been infected with flu since the spring, and there have been five deaths from H1N1 out of 450 confirmed cases reported in the city of Boston.
Swine flu, as opposed to seasonal flu, has a tendency to strike in young people, she said.
“This is different from the patterns we usually see in seasonal flu,” she said. “For other flu, the ill and hospitalized are elderly. We see a lot of [sick] people that are younger.”
In Boston, an estimated 11 percent of all adolescents contracted swine flu in the spring, Ferrer said. Children younger than 18 years old made up 64 percent of flu victims in the city.
“Schools are particularly hard hit,” she said. “We closed 20 schools in the city because they weren’t able to operate safely.”
The pandemic also appears to have a bigger impact on Hispanics and blacks, Ferrer said. Thirty-seven percent of all swine flu cases occurred in black people, although black people comprise only about 26 percent of Boston’s total population. One-third of all confirmed cases were seen in the Latino population.
Overall, almost three-fourths of people hospitalized for the virus in Boston have been either black or Hispanic, Ferrer said.
“In Boston, people who did end up being hospitalized, 50 had asthma, and residents of color are more likely to have asthma,” she said.
She said although the flu has become more prevalent with fall, the City of Boston has thorough measures in place to handle any outbreak.
“We are very well prepared for that,” she said. “We have been working for years, actually, on plans about what to do if there was an overwhelming number of people who needed to seek care at the same time.”
Boston school officials said school policies have also changed, as fewer than half as many people are now seeking treatment as in spring.
“Schools are encouraged to go about the business of education,” Carolyn Riley, senior director of Special Education for BPS, said in a NECN news video of the hearing. “School closings are not recommended.”
To prevent flu, Ferrer encouraged people to wash hands frequently, cover their noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing and try to avoid close contact with others if possible, such as shaking hands and hugging.
“It’s good to modify these activities when we are facing an outbreak,” she said.
Director of the Infectious Disease Bureau Anita Barry offered advice for college students in an interview before the hearing. She said although the H1N1 vaccine currently isn’t largely available, students should seek it out as soon as it is.
“The vaccine is slowly becoming available,” she said. “We expect there’ll be a larger amount [of vaccine production] sometime towards the end of November. But it’s important to remember that we recommend flu vaccination up until April.”
Barry also said students should be careful when going to parties, where personal space is limited and people tend to share cups.
“You need to make it some kind of a trend that everyone uses their own cups,” she said. “And if you aren’t feeling well, stay away from parties.”
Harvard University freshman Ben Blatt, one of the few civilian attendees at the hearing, said he’s not too worried about the flu.
“I haven’t gotten the flu shot or anything, although they offered it,” he said. “I’m not that terribly concerned.”
Don't forget you can also use our Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer on a regular basis and decontaminate infected rooms in homes, schools, and offices with our Dephyze Decon 3D chemical decontamination that is completely safe after only four hours. No need to close schools or offices to remain safe from H1N1 and the other flu viruses.
Keeping schools clean and open has become a top priority of education officials across the country, especially amidst the spread of the H1N1 virus (a.k.a., "Swine Flu"). Still, many school districts have been forced to close their doors and disinfect their buildings due to high illness absenteeism among faculty, staff and students. Examples include:
Huntsville, Texas -- School officials reportedly employed cleaning crews to disinfect all door knobs, desks, tabletops and handles during a shutdown expected to last at least 48 hours.
Manning, S.C. -- School officials are said to have spent five days disinfecting the entire school, including wiping down walls, desks, counters, toilets and anything else students might touch.
A four-week school closure would cost districts somewhere between $140 and $630 per student, depending upon location, according to report cited in a Los Angeles Timesarticle today. On top of those costs, additional costs are incurred by employers and employees via unscheduled absences.
A 2008 survey conducted by Mercer for the workforce management company Kronos® revealed that a company with a $50 million payroll (i.e., 1,000 employees earning average annual salaries of $50,000 each) will spend $4.5 million annually — or 9 percent of payroll — on unplanned incidental and extended employee absences.
But there are ways to fight back.
The easiest way for school officials to begin preparing for such an outbreak is by making Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer available to faculty, staff and students.
An extremely-safe, effective, non-irritating, non-flammable and non-staining alternative to alcohol-based hand sanitizer, Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer comes without the liability and risk concerns of alcohol-based hand sanitizers that prompted University of Michigan officials to ban it from dispensers on campus (details here).
After installing wall-mounted dispensers, a thorough top-to-bottom cleaning needs to take place. That should, at a minimum, include the following:
Treating all carpets within school buildings with DepHyze™ Carpet Cleaner to ensure you not only clean your carpets effectively, but that you also eliminate odors through 100 percent true chemical negation (not masking);
Using DepHyze™ Decon 3D, an ultra-powerful cleaner and disinfectant to thoroughly clean your entire school building and then use it once monthly thereafter;
If you have a laundry facility within your school, using DepHyze™ Laundry Detergent, a cold-water, energy-saving product, to wash all machine-washable clothing, uniforms and linens at least once every two to three loads.
The products listed above, which offer up to an unsurpassed 99.99999 percent efficacy, can help school officials take care of the most-challenging and unwanted schoolhouse visitors -- bacteria, germs, mold, viruses, etc. Best of all, they're available today from CLEANpHIRST™.
Is it possible that the mother in the video above used Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer in place of one of the leading alcohol-based brands? Seems plausible.
If you're a mom who's looking foran extremely-safe, effective, non-irritating, non-flammable and non-staining alternative to alcohol-based hand sanitizer, look no further than CLEANpHIRST™.
Right now, CLEANpHIRST™ is offering a six-month supply of Hand Sanitizer for only $30, and that includes free shipping on orders shipped to customers anywhere in the continental United States.
When you order, you’ll receive six 1.7-oz. dispensers of Hand Sanitizer, each of which provides 125 applications. That’s 750 applications in all — enough to last a mom, dad and four babies quite a while, especially when compared to similar-size dispensers (2 ounce) of the leading alcohol-based gels which provide only 39 applications.
To place an order before the babies wake from their nap, click here.
Reducing employee absenteeism by as little as one to five percent could make it possible for companies to avoid laying off workers, closing divisions and worse. Moreover, an effective way to reduce absenteeism seems to have been uncovered through research conducted in schools across the United States.
Studies in recent years have shown that rates of absenteeism among both adults and children can be reduced through simple hand hygiene programs that involves the use of hand sanitizer. For instance:
In one study (pdf),, University of Pennsylvania researchers concluded that a simple education program about hand washing, combined with the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, resulted in 50.6 percent lower absenteeism among elementary school students; and
Another study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, revealed that the combination of hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer decreased student absenteeism by 19.8 percent and teacher absenteeism by 10.1 percent in a school with 246 teachers on staff.
It stands to reason then that, if schools can reduce absenteeism through simple hand hygiene programs that involve the use of hand sanitizer, businesses should be able to do the same.
A 2008 survey conducted by Mercer for the workforce management company Kronos® revealed that a company with a $50 million payroll (i.e., 1,000 employees earning average annual salaries of $50,000 each) will spend $4.5 million annually - or 9 percent of payroll - on unplanned incidental and extended employee absences. As the chart above indicates, even a one-percent reduction in absenteeism can have a sizable impact on a company’s bottom line.
The easiest way for a company to begin striving for such results is by making Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer available to its employees.
Offering unprecedented Log 5 efficacy (i.e., 99.999 percent kill rate on Staphylococcus aureus), it kills well beyond the level of the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizer products on the market and has been proven proven effective against Norovirus, MRSA and Clostridium difficile ("C. diff."). Best of all, it works in a manner that’s safe, effective and non-toxic.
University of Pennsylvania researchers concluded in a study (pdf) seven years ago that a simple education program about hand washing, combined with the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, resulted in 50.6 percent lower absenteeism among elementary school studentsand couldsave a school $167 per student per year.
In light of the fact that his company offers an alcohol-free hand sanitizer product proven three times more effective than other products now on the market and far more advanced than products on the market at the time the study was conducted, numbers like those cited above keep Lance Albritton motivated. A father of two youngsters and president and founder of St. Louis-based CLEANpHIRST™, Albritton cites them each time he visits with school officials about the values and benefits of products offered by his company, CLEANpHIRST™.
‘While it comes as no surprise to most people that researchers determined hand washing to be one of the most important factors in controlling the spread of diseases which lead to absenteeism,” Albritton said, “the role hand sanitizers can play in reducing absenteeism and lowering expenses comes as more of a shock.
“While $167 a day was a lot of money in 2002, it’s still a lot of money today, Albritton noted, “and I’m willing to bet that the per-student per-day figures cited in the study would increase if a new study was conducted today.”
Another study published in the American Journal of Infection Control revealed that the combination of hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer decreased teacher absenteeism by 10.1 percent in a school with 246 teachers on staff.
Is Albritton willing to say that, because his company’s Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer more effective than alcohol-based hand sanitizers, that schools deploying it for use in classrooms, cafeterias and athletic facilities will see absenteeism plummet? Not quite, but he does point out some key benefits many studies miss.
“While many studies highlight the benefits of hand sanitizer use,” Albritton said, “they don’t point out one of the most-important differences between alcohol-based hand sanitizers like the one used in the study and alcohol-free products like the one we offer at CLEANpHIRST™ — safety.”
Albritton went on to share some interesting facts about alcohol:
Your average beer contains 4 to 8 percent alcohol by volume;
Your average hard liquor contains 40 percent alcohol by volume; and
Your average alcohol-based hand sanitizer contains somewhere between 62 and 95 percent alcohol by volume and, unlike beer and liquor, can be purchased by children of any age.
“Alcohol-based hand sanitizers like the product used in the study pose not only a serious health risk to students who might accidentally or intentionally ingest them because they contain a minimum of 62 percent alcohol,” Albritton explained, adding “In addition, they pose fire risks so great that some municipal fire codes do not allow wall-mounted dispensers containing alcohol-based hand sanitizer near egress pathways in public buildings.”
The new CLEANpHIRST™ video above offers a lot of valuable information for parents and school officials as they begin the 2009-2010 school year. For instance:
It highlights the dangers of alcohol that are found in the leading brands of hand sanitizer and, in turn, in classrooms across the country
It points out the fact that superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Norovirus and the H1N1 virus (a.k.a., “Swine Flu”) pose statistically-greater risks to faculty, staff and students than gun violence on campus
It points parents and teachers in the right direction — to CLEANpHIRST™ — for help.
Reuters published an article today about the first-year results of a flu study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Released in October 2008, the results of the study are both encouraging and conflicting -- especially if you attend school in Ann Arbor:
Encouraging about the study is the fact that researchers determined that wearing masks and using alcohol-based hand sanitizers may prevent the spread of flu symptoms by as much as 50 percent; and
Conflicting about the study, and not mentioned in the article, is the fact that only last month officials at the University of Michigan placed tight new restrictions on the installation of dispensers containing alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Explained in an Aug. 20 memo distributed throughout the university, the restrictions are based largely on a state fire marshal’s bulletin limiting where alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers can be placed because of liability and risk management concerns about the product’s flammability (See this post for more details).
If you live and/or work on campus at the University of Michigan, don't fret. In the aforementioned memo, university officials directed their procurement officials to purchase alcohol-free hand sanitizer for use in dispensers on campus. Moreover, they specified the purchase of products containing benzalkonium chloride (BZK) instead of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Though they didn’t recommend our product by name, they basically directed university purchasing officials to purchase Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer, a product available in both wall-mounted dispensers and 1.7-oz. personal-size bottles from CLEANpHIRST™.
As you might imagine, everyone at CLEANpHIRST™ is excited about International Clean Hands Week, Sept. 20-26.
During the week, we're encouraging everyone to focus on keeping their hands clean. That means washing your hands with soap and water several times each day. When soap and water isn't available, use Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer.
Below are some of the reasons why you should keep our hands clean:
According to CDC, the single most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to clean our hands;
Nearly 22 million school days are lost due to the common cold alone. Some viruses and bacteria can live from 20 minutes up to 2 hours or more on surfaces like cafeteria tables, doorknobs, and desks. (CDC);
52.2 million cases of the common cold affect Americans under the age of 17 each year. (CDC, 1996);
Students don't wash their hands often or well. In one study, only 58% of female and 48% of male middle and high school students washed their hands after using the bathroom. (American Journal of Infection Control, 1997); and
A study of Detroit school children showed that scheduled hand washing, at least four times a day, can reduce gastrointestinal illness and related absences by more than 50%. (Family Medicine, 1997).
In almost every recent news story about combating the H1N1 virus (a.k.a., "Swine Flu"), a health care professional (a.k.a., "the expert") is interviewed and asked to offer advice. In turn, the expert offers little more than a recap of CDC guidelines, including the recommendation that alcohol-based hand sanitizer should be used when soap and water is not available. While everyone at CLEANpHIRST™ agrees with the soap-and-water part, we take issue with the advice to use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Why? Because that recommendation is not based on the latest scientific data. Instead, it stems from the CDC's own failure to develop/select a sporicidal protocol for measuring the effectiveness of the alcohol-free foam hand sanitizer available from CLEANpHIRST™.
If the CDC would develop and/or select a sporicidal protocol for measuring the effectiveness of hand sanitizer, they would find Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer more effective than the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizer products in several ways.
For instance, they would find hand sanitizer to be an extremely-safe, effective, non-irritating, non-flammable and non-staining alternative to alcohol-based hand sanitizer that kills well beyond the level of the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizers on the market (i.e., 99.999 percent kill rate against Staphylococcus aureus).
Furthermore, they would find the following statements to be true:
hand sanitizer is the only hand sanitizer proven effective against both strains of Norovirus;
The active ingredient in hand sanitizer, benzalkonium chloride (BZK), has been proven effective against H1N1 (a.k.a.,”Swine Flu”) in one scientific study;
hand sanitizer provides up to 30 minutes of protection on the skin, and that compares to alcohol, the active ingredient in the 21-year-old technology of the leading products, which evaporates from the skin within 10 seconds of application; and
Unlike the leading alcohol-based products, hand sanitizer has not had tight new restrictions placed on it by state fire marshals and, in turn, at places like the University of Michigan.
Editor's Note to Journalists: If you wrote one of the articles below or you've written other article(s) about hand sanitizer, please contact us at info (at) CLEANpHIRST (dot) com or via the comments section below to learn more for your next story about hand sanitizer:
"Many students say they routinely wash their hands," said Douglas Powell, an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University. "But even in an outbreak situation, many students simply don't." In February 2006, Powell and two colleagues -- Ben Chapman, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, and research assistant Brae Surgeoner -- observed hand sanitation behavior during an outbreak. What was thought to have been Norovirus sickened nearly 340 students at the University of Guelph in Canada.
Hand sanitation stations and informational posters were stationed at the entrance to a residence hall cafeteria, where the potential for cross-contamination was high. The researchers observed that even during a high-profile outbreak, students followed recommended hand hygiene procedures just 17 percent of the time. In a self-reported survey after the outbreak had subsided, 83 of 100 students surveyed said they always followed proper hand hygiene but estimated that less than half of their peers did the same.
Most college students surveyed perceived at least one barrier to following recommended procedures for good hand hygiene: More than 90 percent cited the lack of soap, paper towels or hand sanitizer.
In addition to being the only formula on the market proven effective against both strains of the Norovirus, Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer, stands as an extremely-safe, effective, non-irritating, non-flammable, non-staining alternative to alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
CLEANpHIRST not only kills well beyond the level of the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizers on the market (i.e., 99.999 percent kill rate against Staphylococcus aureus), but it’s active ingredient, benzalkonium chloride (BZK), was proven effective against H1N1 (a.k.a.,”Swine Flu”) in a scientific study conducted two years ago.
Unlike other hand sanitizer products containing BZK, Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer maximizes its effectiveness via the use of a unique surfactant package that allows the active ingredient to penetrate cell walls at a higher rate. Best of all, it does so without alcohol, an ingredient that dries out the skin and can damage the skin with repeated use.
Again, order a supply of Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer for your student. You'll be glad you did, and your child might (emphasis added) even thank you for it.
Unbelievable! According to a report in the San Jose Mercury News, more than 2,000 Washington State University students have been sickened by the H1N1 virus (a.k.a., "Swine Flu") during the first two weeks of fall semester classes. Makes me wonder what kind of cleaning products and hand sanitizers the folks at WSU are using. After all, I haven't heard reports like those out of Pullman, Wash., from any of the schools using products manufactured by Tionicon and available from CLEANpHIRST™. I'm just saying...hmmm?
At least once a week, it seems like I'm publishing a post having something to do with schools and the need school officials have to keep their facilities clean and safe. Today, I share a partial list of schools, ranging from pre-schools to universities and everything in between, where decision-makers have embraced the new class of Tionicon-manufactured products available from CLEANpHIRST™.
Take a look at the list below, and see if you recognize any of them:
Appletree Academy -- Wentzville, Mo.
Babson College -- Boston, Mass.
Grand Island School District, Grand Island, N.Y.
Kinder-Care Lutheran Pre-School, Elmhurst, Ill.
Massart College -- Boston, Mass.
Milcreek Township School District -- Erie, Pa.
North Royalton School District -- N. Royalton, Ohio
St. James School (K-8), Glen Ellyn, Ill.
St. Peters Lutheran School (K-8), Schaumburg, Ill.
University of Wisconsin -- Madison, Wisc.
University of Michigan -- Ann Arbor, Mich.
Want to add your name to this list? Visit our web site for product and contact information.
Amidst reports of teens drinking alcohol-based hand sanitizer to get drunk, officials with the West Independent School District in Waco, Texas, opted to be proactive and remove the products from the district's schools, according to a report today on the web site of ABC affiliate KXXV-TV 25.
Reports about school officials making decisions identical to the one made in Waco are surfacing more frequently than ever before as people become more aware of the dangers of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Only two days ago on this blog, I reported that a school district in Nova Scotia had banned alcohol-based hand sanitizer from their schools.
Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer is as an extremely-safe, effective, non-irritating, non-flammable, non-staining alternative to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Not only does it kill well beyond the level of the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizers on the market (i.e., 99.999 percent kill rate against Staphylococcus aureus), but it’s also the only formula on the market proven effective against both strains of the Norovirus. In addition, the active ingredient in Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer, benzalkonium chloride (BZK), has been proven effective against H1N1 (a.k.a.,”Swine Flu”) in a scientific study conducted two years ago.
Unlike other hand sanitizer products containing BZK, Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer maximizes its effectiveness via the use of a unique surfactant package that allows the active ingredient to penetrate cell walls at a higher rate. Best of all, it does so without alcohol, an ingredient that dries out the skin and can damage the skin with repeated use.
If you attend or work at a school where alcohol-based hand sanitizer is still used, tell the people who make purchasing decisions at your school to contact CLEANpHIRST™ for more information about Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer.
It appears as if Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board officials have been reading this blog.
According to a CBC report today, those officials cited one primary factor — the fear that it could be used to start fires — as having influenced their decision to ban alcohol-based hand sanitizer from dozens of Nova Scotia schools this fall. Other factors mentioned in the piece were the high alcohol content of alcohol-based hand cleaners and hand sanitizers and the ingestion hazards they pose.
Coincidentally, several CLEANpHIRST™ blog posts have covered the same topics:
In an Aug. 27 post (Can 12,000 Emergency Room Visits Be Ignored?), I highlighted the American Association of Poison Control Center statistic that almost 12,000 children were taken to emergency rooms in 2006 after ingesting alcohol-based hand sanitizer; and
In a July 30 post (Videos Capture Attention at Safety Conference), I highlighted YouTube videos which showed evidence of the fire dangers presented by alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
You should be using alcohol-free hand sanitizer on a regular basis…
If you’re a politician, a professional athlete, a rock star or an always-on-the-go sales professional and you shake hands with a lot of people — including many you don’t know — on a regular basis;
If you’re a bus driver, a flight attendant, a school teacher or a waitress and you work in a confined space occupied by large numbers of people — including many who are sick — on a regular basis; and
If you’re a regular attendee at your house of worship and shake hands with a lot of people — including friends, acquaintances and people you’ve just met — on a regular basis.
Still using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer? Don’t worry! A safe, effective, non-toxic and alcohol-free alternative is available in the form of Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer.
Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer kills well beyond the level of the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizers on the market (i.e., 99.999 percent kill rate against Staphylococcus aureus). It’s also the only formula on the market that’s been proven effective against both strains of the Norovirus. In addition, the active ingredient in Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer — benzalkonium chloride (BZK) — was proven effective against H1N1 (a.k.a.,”Swine Flu”) in a study conducted two years ago.
Unlike other hand sanitizer products which contain BZK, Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer maximizes its effectiveness via the use of a unique surfactant package that allows that ingredient to penetrate cell walls at a higher rate. And, again, it does it without alcohol, an ingredient that dries out the skin and can damage the skin with repeated use.
As a special bonus when you order a six-pack of Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer for only $30, we’ll include shipping to any location within the continental U.S. absolutely free! That’s 750 applications — enough to last you almost six months at 5 applications per day.
While only 1 in 10 Americans surveyed claimed to be very worried about H1N1 flu (a.k.a., “Swine Flu”), 93 percent are taking or planning to take at least one action to guard against this new flu, according to results of a recent American Red Cross poll made public in a news release this morning. Arguably the best actions Americans can take, however, is a thorough, top-to-bottom cleaning of their homes, schools, athletic facilities and workplaces using products containing DepHyze™ cleaning technology.
Available in products from CLEANpHIRST™, DepHyze™ technology was developed from a base formula originally developed at Sandia National Laboratories as a solution to the military’s need to neutralize chemical and biological weapons. Subsequent to the first Gulf War, SNL commercially licensed the formula to private-sector companies, including Aurora, Colo.-based Tionicon™.
Charlie Talley, the lead chemist for Tionicon™, was one of the first scientists to understand the potential of the base formula and conducted a decade’s worth of research to prove its capability for numerous commercial applications. Those capabilities, as offered in one of the company’s premier products, DepHyze™ Decon 3D, include the following:
Extraordinary Effectiveness – A two-part product, DepHyze™ Decon 3D has the potential to reach “7 Log” efficacy ratings — or 99.99999% kill rates against the most-potent “superbugs”. In comparison, the leading mass-marketed commercial cleaning products are limited to 3 Log (99.9%) or 4 Log (99.99%) effectiveness — vastly inferior in the world of microorganisms where reproduction rates are factored exponentially.
Residual Killing Effect – Substrates that have been cleaned with DepHyze™ Decon 3D will maintain a sterile surface for long periods and keep killing over time. For example, an interior ceiling or wall treated with DepHyze™ Decon 3D and not routinely cleaned or abraded can demonstrate residual killing ability for more than two years!
Non-toxic – Even though DepHyze™ Decon 3D is extremely powerful, it is also biodegradable and not harmful to humans or animals.
Eliminates Odors – DepHyze™ Decon 3D is 100 percent effective in eliminating foul odors, providing complete biological and chemical odor negation via true chemical neutralization instead of simply masking smells.
Easy to Use – No special equipment or training is required to use DepHyze™ Decon 3D. In fact, it can be applied in numerous ways (i.e., spray, brush, wipe, mop, mist, etc.). One gallon of the product can treat up to 2,000 square feet.
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams aired a report last night that contained a dire prediction from the Centers for Disease Control: Half of the U.S. population is likely to contract the H1N1 virus (a.k.a., “Swine Flu”). For some 30,000 to 90,000 Americans, it’s expected to be deadly, according to the report below by Robert Bazell.
Are you doing everything possible to keep your home, school, workplace or other location clean, safe and disinfected? The answer is “No” if you’re not using products from CLEANpHIRST™.
To learn more about the entirely new class of cleaning products available to help Americans combat Swine Flu and other highly-contagious bugs, click here
Under the headline, Swine Flu: The Next Wave, The Wall Street Journal reported today that 55 million children are heading back to school in the next few weeks amidst growing concerns that the H1N1 virus (a.k.a., “Swine Flu”) will spread even further than it already has.
After you read the WSJ article, I recommend you read some of the school-related posts published on this blog. These posts cover topics ranging from loopholes in zero-tolerance policies on alcohol and dangerous school supplies to observations about alcohol and “superbugs” posing greater threats than guns on school campuses and several subjects in between.
A 5-week study involving 769 elementary school students determined that the use of alcohol-free hand sanitizer by those students resulted in them being 33% less likely to have been absent due to illness. The study, supported by an Orange County (Calif.) School Nurses Organization Health Promotion Grant, also found that use of the alcohol-free hand sanitizer optimizes student attendance with minimal detraction from instruction time. Furthermore, it revealed that, when standard hand washing facilities are not available or readily accessible, an efficacious alcohol-free hand sanitizer can be used in the school setting. When it comes to alcohol-free hand sanitizers, none perform better than Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer. Available from CLEANpHIRST™, CLEANpHIRST kills well beyond the level of the leading alcohol-based hand sanitizers on the market (i.e., 99.999 percent kill rate against Staphylococcus aureus). It’s also the only formula on the market that’s been proven effective against both strains of the Norovirus. Does it help against Swine Flu? Benzalkonium chloride (BZK), the active ingredient in CLEANpHIRST, has been proven effective against the H1N1 virus (a.k.a.,”Swine Flu”), according to a study conducted two years ago. Unlike other hand sanitizers which contain BZK, CLEANpHIRST maximizes its effectiveness via the use of a unique surfactant package that allows that ingredient to penetrate cell walls at a higher rate. And, again, it does it without alcohol, the active ingredient found in the leading brands of hand sanitizer that dries out the skin, causes painful irritation that lasts for days and, with repeated use, can damage the skin. You can learn more about the differences between hand sanitizer products in these posts or, if you only have time to read one post, check out this one that features a group of doctors in a video worth watching. To learn more about Alcohol-Free Foam Hand Sanitizer and the entire line of CLEANpHIRST™ products, click here. [Editor's Note: The results of this study undergird the findings of an earlier study, the results of which were highlighted in the post, Study: BZK-Based Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer Slashes Illness Absenteeism in Elementary School.]
A new national study, conducted among 670 physicians and measuring perceptions regarding the H1N1 Swine Flu, revealed that doctors’ level of concern has steadily increased over the past month. Fortunately, CLEANpHIRST™ offers cleaning and disinfectant solutions that can help allay some Swine Flu-related fears through the effective treatment of surfaces in homes, hospitals, schools and other settings where the H1N1 virus is not welcome.
One of those products, DepHyze™ Decon 3D, was determined by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories to be highly effective at complete inactivation of the swine influenza A, H1N1 virus. Referred to in this report by its generic name, “Sandia DF200D,” DepHyze™ Decon 3D is available today from CLEANpHIRST™.
Why? Because that recommendation is not based on the latest scientific data. Instead, it stems from the CDC's own failure to develop/select a sporicidal protocol for measuring the effectiveness of the alcohol-free foam hand sanitizer available from 
