flu season, and her cleaning crew has many more sick days off scattered over the whole school year. Let’s be Sherlock Holmes of school facilities and figure this out. If Sherlock did his homework, here is what he might find. Cleaning Differences The newer-school principal impressed on her cleaning crew to do whatever they needed to keep the school looking absolutely clean and smelling nice and freshly cleaned. So, the crew doubled down on cleaning solutions and disinfec-tants. They favored scented products and occasionally used products with natural oils (such as lemon or pine oils) that also smell nice. Thus, the school looked and smelled clean, but was in fact full of several chemical contaminants, some of which are toxic to varying degrees. These chemicals adhere to cleaned surfaces as well as the dust and dirt on out-of-sight surfaces that were not cleaned. Further, the cleaning products are stored indoors where they constantly (day and night) emit chemical gases into the building. Perhaps the school is also in an area where outdoor ozone levels are high. If one reads the literature, he or she will see that ozone has been found to readily interact with surface chemicals such as terpenes that are found in products containing natural oils, and with chemi-cals found in air fresheners and other products. Unfortunately, these chemical reactions create toxic byproducts such as formaldehyde, and some think that exposure to these by-products explains part of the spike in respiratory hospitalizations during high ozone episodes. All of these described elevated chemical exposures may well help to explain the overall feelings of lethargy/malady by all occu-pants as well as the high rates of sick leave of the cleaning crew at the newer school. It also could explain why surfaces have gradually lost their luster in the newer school. Chemicals can be harsh on surfaces, just as they are on people. Finally, it is likely that many frequently touched surfaces such as door knobs, water fountain handles and desktops are wiped clean in the irregular manner typical of traditional cleaning methods but were not sanitized daily. This helps explain why more students and teachers are absent due to illness during flu season when rates of disease transmission from contact surfaces is high. They also ventilated the space after their use to clean the air. Sherlock may have found that the more open-minded but inexpe-rienced principal and cleaning manager understood that a healthy school is everyone’s responsibility because they educated and en-gaged the teachers and students on their methods and gained their cooperation. Working together, they minimized the need for harsh cleaners, disinfectants and pesticides by removing clutter that harbors pests, properly storing food and cleaning up after snacking so as not to attract pests. They also instituted a program of thorough and regular hand washing using the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hand washing technique and taught all students and staff how to properly cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing. Even Sherlock — who can sometimes be pretty arrogant — would be impressed. Being a man who leaves no stone unturned, Sherlock prob-ably also read several scientific studies that demonstrate how these methods, along with other maintenance methods for clean and healthy schools, have been shown to improve health, com-fort and human performance, including improved test scores of children. So maybe, just maybe, the principal and the cleaning manager of the older school are on to something new and exciting. What do you think? CM The first high-speed automatic scrubber to clean and polish all types of floors. The IPC Eagle ECS high-speed automatic scrubbers are uniquely designed to mechanically clean and polish sealed and non-sealed floors. This chemical free mechanical cleaning approach physically removes the soil as it polishes the surface drastically cutting the cost of labor and chemicals while eliminating frequent burnishing. The Other School By contrast, the neighboring school — though older — is following the Renewable Cleaning philosophy. The principal and the cleaning manager in that school had an open mind and different orientation to health and the environment, and they liked to give new ideas a chance. Their school was clean but didn’t smell clean. In fact it had no smell at all because the cleaning crew mostly used water-based cleaning technologies and reserved potent chemical cleaners for the toughest stains. Visit www.ipceagle.com/ECSHighSpeed for more information. 3650 Dodd Rd Eagan, MN 55123 800.486.2775 www.ipceagle.com FREE INFO: Reader Service 204 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo www.cmmonline.com 29
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