By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 11, 2023, that its Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently developed sustainable, machine-washable antimicrobial wipes that can be used at least 30 times for cleaning hard and nonporous surfaces. According to USDA, ARS researchers developed the antimicrobial wipes “by using raw cotton fiber that naturally produced silver nanoparticles inside the fiber in the presence of a silver precursor.” USDA states that the embedded silver nanoparticles then release silver ions that act as antibacterial agents and kill harmful bacteria. USDA notes that in their research, scientists found that the wipes killed 99.9 percent of harmful bacteria S. aureus and P. aeruginosa on surfaces.
 
USDA states that the advantages to this technology include omitting the conventional pretreatments of raw cotton fibers (such as scouring and bleaching), which consume a large number of chemicals and energy, and not requiring any chemical agents except for a silver precursor. According to USDA, the technology “also transforms cotton fibers themselves into antimicrobial agents rather than serving as a carrier of antimicrobial agents, which is what makes them reusable.” USDA notes that the antimicrobial wipes are made from “natural cotton fibers, rather than conventional petroleum-based synthetic fibers.” The wipes can be reused by being washed in the laundry.
 
More information on the antimicrobial wipes is available in an article in Molecules entitled “Washable Antimicrobial Wipes Fabricated from a Blend of Nanocomposite Raw Cotton Fiber.”

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By Lynn L. Bergeson

On May 14, 2020, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), a BRAG member, announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved eight cleaning product ingredients submitted by ACI for inclusion in EPA’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL). EPA’s Safer Choice Program focuses on assisting consumers, businesses, and purchasers to find products that perform and contain ingredients that are safer for human health and the environment. SCIL is a list of chemical ingredients that have been evaluated and determined by the Safer Choice Program to be safer than traditional chemical ingredients. This is the first time that the Safer Choice Program has approved a SCIL submission by a non-manufacturer. Kathleen Stanton, ACI Associate Vice President of Technical and International Affairs and BRAG company representative, commented on ACI’s achievement stating that “[a]dding chemicals to the SCIL encourages innovation and growth in safer products, increases markets for manufacturers and helps protect people and the environment.” The following chemical surfactants were added to SCIL:

• Octadecanoic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester;

• Alcohols, C12-15;

• Octadecanoic acid, 12-hydroxy-;

• Fatty acids, C8-18 and C18-unsaturated, sodium salts;

• Fatty acids, C14-18 and C16-18-unsaturated, sodium salts;

• Potassium oleate;

• Fatty acids, palm-oil; and

• Sulfuric acid, mono-C14-18-alkyl esters, sodium salts.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Margaret R. Graham

On October 15, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed California Senate Bill (S.B.) 258, the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017, which would require manufacturers of cleaning products to disclose certain chemical ingredients on the product label and on the manufacturer’s website.  The final version of S.B. 258 was passed by the California Senate on September 13, 2017, by a vote of 27 to 13.  The California Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 55 to 15, with nine votes not recorded, on September 12, 2017.  The online disclosure requirements would apply to a designated product sold in California on or after January 1, 2020, and the product label disclosure requirements would apply to a designated product sold in California on or after January 1, 2021.  The bill was co-sponsored by several non-governmental organizations as well as a few manufacturers of cleaning products including Honest Company, Seventh Generation, Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson, RB - Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Eco Lab WD-40, fragrance maker Givaudan, and the Consumer Specialty Products Association.  More information on S.B. 258 is available in our memorandum “California Bill Would Require Disclosure of Cleaning Product Ingredients.” 

The State of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Division of Materials Management will soon release formally a similar initiative, the Household Cleaning Product Information Disclosure Program.  This program will require manufacturers of domestic and commercial cleaning products distributed, sold, or offered for sale in New York State to furnish information regarding such products in a certification form prescribed by the Commissioner, and is expected to require disclosure of many more chemicals than S.B. 258.  The period for comments on the draft certification form and guidance document related to the program ended on July 14, 2017.

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®) will soon be releasing a detailed memorandum on both developments to be available on our regulatory developments webpage. 

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