A Closer Look At Hand Soap
 

Most astute building service contractors (BSCs) are well aware of the impact Green cleaning, the use of environmentally preferable cleaning products, and Green certification programs are having on the jansan industry. More and more customers are demanding that these products be used to clean and maintain their facilities, and jansan manufacturers are rushing both to develop these products and have them Green certified. 

However, it should be clear that Green cleaning applies to much more than cleaning chemicals alone. It also includes the vacuum cleaners used every day in millions of facilities throughout North America, as well as floor machines, matting systems, mops and mop heads, cleaning cloths, and a host of other jansan products. 

Green also applies to the hand soap used in schools, office buildings, medical facilities and elsewhere. And, because BSCs are usually the ones that replenish hand soap in these facilities and are often involved in the selection of soaps, a better understanding of why these products are now being evaluated for environmental safety and why many soap manufacturers are seeking Green certification for their products, is in order. 

Soap Definitions, Origins and Ingredients

Before exploring the subject, some definitions and a little history are necessary. Hand soaps can be defined as those products designed to remove organic and inorganic soil from skin. This includes industrial hand cleaners found in garages, auto manufacturing and repair facilities, factories, print shops and similar industrial settings. It also includes institutional hand cleaners, most often found in the public washrooms of airports, restaurants, retail stores, educational facilities and office buildings. 

Hand soap was first developed by the Phoenicians around 600 B.C. They developed a process called saponification, which involved the mixing and boiling of goat fat, water and ash high in potassium carbonate. As the liquid would evaporate, it left a solid form that could be cut into bars of soap. 

What is a surprise to us today is that soap was not a “big seller” back then and was only moderately popular for almost 20 centuries. But when medical science identified bacteria as a leading cause of disease in the mid-1800s, soap production soared. 

Many of the same basic ingredients used to make soap thousands of years ago are still used today. Instead of goat fat, fatty acids from plant, animal and vegetable oils are used; an alkali base of sodium hydroxide, also known as “lye,” is formulated for hard soaps; and potassium hydroxide, also known as “potash,” is used in the production of soft soaps. 

However, many more chemical ingredients have been added to soap in just the past couple of decades. Some of these include: 

• Fragrances from a variety of both man-made and natural sources.
• Polyethylene glycol, surfactants, detergents, emulsifiers and other products used as thickeners.
• Glycerin, an emollient and texture enhancer.
• Sorbitol, another emollient used to help make soaps more transparent.
• Titanium dioxide to make the soap opaque.
• Pentasodium pentetate, tetrasodium etidronate, and tetrasodium EDTA, added as water softeners and to protect the dyes and perfumes from the effects of metal ions in the mixtures.

 

Why Green Hand Soaps Are Necessary

The problem that has evolved is that hand soaps, because of many of these ingredients, and similar “personal” cleaners can negatively impact indoor air quality, and irritate the skin and eyes. Additionally, when the active ingredients in soap are washed down drains, they can have a harmful effect on waterways and aquatic ecosystems. They have the potential of entering the food chain, affecting insects, birds and larger animals, and therefore, what we eat. 

And many times the soap container packaging is not biodegradable. Once disposed of, it simply adds more waste to overflowing landfills. 

To help manufacturers develop environmentally preferable hand soaps, and to help distributors, BSCs and end-user customers select Green-certified hand soaps. EcoLogo has recently updated its 1997 criteria to evaluate these products. The goal of the new standards is to raise the “Green bar,” and help identify and promote soap products that are even more environmentally responsible, are less polluting, help conserve resources, and have minimal or reduced impact on the environment. 

The new requirements for EcoLogo certification cover the entire life cycle of the product from creation to disposal and include such things as: 

• The soap’s performance must be comparable to or better than that of conventional, non-Green hand cleaners.
• The soap must have limited toxicity to help protect waterways, aquatic life and other organisms.
• It must be biodegradable, producing minimal waste.
• Ingredients that are likely to negatively affect health and the environment must have been reduced or eliminated.
• Ingredients must be derived from sustainable, renewable sources.

 

These new standards are much broader and more comprehensive than the original criteria. However, they give manufacturers the opportunity to expand their Green product line and take a leadership role in protecting the environment. 

For instance, just recently GOJO, a familiar name in the jansan industry and a manufacturer of hand hygiene and skin care products for the healthcare, manufacturing, education, foodservice and automotive markets, has had some of their hand soaps, which will be available later this year, certified environmentally preferable by EcoLogo. 

According to Brad Helfman, director of product management at GOJO, “GOJO has always worked hard to provide high-performing products in an environmentally responsible fashion. These certifications legitimise those efforts… and allow facility managers and BSCs to incorporate [the products] into their Green cleaning programs.” 

 

Future Trends Look Green

Other manufacturers are expected to follow GOJO’s lead and develop environmentally preferable soaps. This helps buyers – both consumer and corporate – select sustainable products that help protect not only their customers but also the environment. It also indicates that step-by-step, most of the products now used on a regular basis by BSCs in all types of facilities can be replaced by new ones that are safer yet comparable in efficiency to products that have literally been used for centuries.