Green Seal™, the leading eco-label program in the US, is pleased to announce the release of GS-8, the revised Environmental Standard for General-Purpose, Bathroom, Glass, and Carpet Cleaners Used for Household Purposes. Now available to manufacturers and consumers, the new GS-8 includes updates to criteria for prohibited ingredients, air pollutants, skin and eye irritation, skin sensitization, and packaging.
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“We are very excited to provide a certification for products that will further help health-conscious consumers make informed choices in their grocery stores,” said Cheryl Baldwin, Director of Standards for Green Seal. Products that attain certification under the revised GS-8 standard will be the leaders in providing effective cleaners that are environmentally preferable alternatives to mainstream household cleaners. In the past two years, polls and statistics confirm a 20 percent increase in purchasing of environmentally-preferable products, a trend that continues to grow at a precipitous pace.
The market for household cleaners has shown a substantial increase in interest in green and non-toxic products. According to Supermarket News, the category of environmentally responsible household cleaners is performing so well that supermarket chains like “Price Chopper, Schenectady, N.Y.; Kowalski's Markets, St. Paul, Minn.; and Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix are adding more SKUs to their product mix and doubling the space they give the category.”
The final revised standard of GS-8 and the response to comments on the proposed revised standard are available on the Green Seal Web site (
www.greenseal.org ).
Other Articles by Dr. Arthur Weissman
About Dr. Arthur Weissman
Arthur Weissman is President and CEO of Green Seal, the leading non-profit green cleaning certification organization. Dr. Weissman has over 25 years of experience in environmental policy, standards and enforcement. He joined Green Seal in 1993 as Vice President of Standards and Certification, becoming President and CEO in late 1996, and he served as Chair of the Global Ecolabelling Network from 1994 to 1997.
Prior to joining Green Seal, he was responsible for developing national policy and guidance for the Superfund program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He also served as a Congressional Science Fellow and worked for The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut.
He holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in physical geography and environmental science, a masters in natural resource management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a bachelors degree from Harvard University.
