But all of these organizations are focused on the sewn product arena; those workers who work in the mills have often been overlooked. From the August 8 post we make this plea: ” support those companies that are having their goods certified by third parties like Oeko Tex or GOTS. It costs money to have the certification process completed, in addition to the water treatment they must put in place, or any other changes that must be made to be compliant. GOTS has many requirements in the social justice area: no forced or bonded labor, no child labor, fair wages, the ability of workers to do collective bargaining, mandated rest periods, and safe and hygenic working conditions are just some of the requirements under GOTS. Some companies which HAD been certified are choosing to save money by not paying the fees to have the certifications extended when their payments become due” because the market is not demanding these certifications.

The book Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet is a completely revised and updated version of the SDC report. It will be published on the 2nd November by Earthscan. You can get it here: http://www.earthscan.co.uk/pwg

Thanks, Gudrun

Did Mr. Jacobs mention that before he was Technical Information Manager for Greenguard he was the Marketing Manager for Air Quality Sciences?

At best, non-profit Greenguard is no more independent from the for-profit Air Quality Sciences than siblings with the same parent. At worst, Greenguard may only have independence from AQS on paper.

In early spring this year, Air Quality Sciences posted job openings for a marketing manager and for an account manager (I will email you copies). The description for the AQS market manager says in part:

“This position will be responsible for overseeing marketing programs designed to drive GREENGUARD brand awareness and help achieve defined revenue goals.”

Two of the “ESSENTIAL DUTIES” listed for the AQS market manager include:

“Manage GREENGUARD website re-design, including directing the agency and working cross functionally with key internal department to deliver a best in class solution.”

And:

“Develop and implement consumer activation program to educate defined target consumer on importance of indoor air quality and drive awareness for GREENGUARD.”

These job postings are no longer on the AQS website, and now similar job postings are listed as Greenguard jobs on the Greenguard website. However, Greenguard and AQS continue to “share” a headquarters and personnel.

I think this is an obvious conflict-of-interest with an unstated focus on profit, (every manufacturer who participates in Greenguard must pay AQS for testing, who by definition is a for-profit testing business), which seriously undermines the credibility of the Greenguard certification.

Even worse, Greenguard/AQS press releases have been targeting new parents and focusing on furnishings for infants (try counting the number of children in photos on their website). Chemical toxicity, indoor air quality, and children’s health are serious issues, but Greenguard/AQS has not published the ventilation conditions of their proprietary requirements for certifying children’s furniture for homes and bedrooms.

This is important, because the concentration of a contaminant (amount present in a lungful of air) depends on how much clean air is supplied in a space. Greenguard/AQS uses limits for contaminants based on commercial office and school classroom ventilation rates, which usually have much more clean air supplied. Without knowing how much ventilation is used when cribs are certified, users have no way to know if the products exceed the stated limits in their own homes.

As you pointed out, Greenguard requirements only address chemicals emitted into air. They do not address toxic content. Much of children’s exposure is oral and dermal (through skin).

As you also mentioned, Greenguard for Children & schools includes requirements for phthalates. Danish and US research indicates phthalates are showing up in dust, and are not emitted by materials the same way volatile compounds are (volatiles emit faster). Yet, Greenguard uses testing intended for volatiles, which has not been shown to be effective when detecting phthalate exposure. Therefore I think an assurance from Greenguard about phthalates is very misleading.

And Greenguard/AQS certifying fabrics alone is often not particularly helpful, as it does not mean that when the fabrics are applied to other products that the products are low in VOC emissions.

Of course, Greenguard certifying fabrics alone does create another whole industry to provide ongoing revenue for AQS (quarterly, annually, etc.).