Green Seal, a nonprofit agency that provides industry certification for cleaning products, has released several revised versions of its GS-52 (Household) and GS-53 (Industrial and Institutional) standards for specialty cleaning products.

Revisions were made to the following criteria:

Asthmagens and Respiratory Sensitizers: Revision of the evaluation threshold, to be consistent with Green Seal's other cleaning product standards.

Carcinogen Releasers: Revision of the evaluation threshold, to be consistent with Green Seal's other cleaning product standards, and to clarify the definition for carcinogen releasers.

Dermal Toxicity (GS-53): Removal for consistency with GS-37 and because this requirement is unnecessary since other criteria in GS-53 address human toxicity.

Chronic Aquatic Toxicity and Antimicrobial Agents (documentation or test results): Removal because other criteria in the standards limit the use of antimicrobial chemicals and chemicals with a potential to cause chronic aquatic toxicity.

Energy, Air, Water, and Waste; and Distribution: Removal because energy, air, water, and waste are not significant life cycle contributors for this class of products; and because Green Seal does not foresee setting limits on distribution for this class of products.

Fragrance Disclosure and Labeling: Clarification and revision to better reflect what is appropriate for this class of products

Annex E - Microorganisms: Clarification related to effective prevention measures and treatment.

Packaging Sustainability Requirements: Clarification related to bisphenol A and heavy metals.

Appendix 1 - Scope: Scope expansion to allow for the review and certification of drain cleaners.

Editorial Changes: Additional revisions in order to clarify certain sections.

Public comments on the revisions were accepted from January 3 through February 14, 2014. The revised standards are now available for viewing at:
www.greenseal.org/gs52 and www.greenseal.org/gs53.