Late last week the Senate Education committee passed a bill (S.92) to protect Vermont’s children from harmful cleaning chemicals in schools. The bill will require schools in Vermont to use safer, green cleaning supplies, and is headed to the full Senate for a vote.
Conventional cleaning products used in schools can contain a wide variety of harmful chemicals that have been linked to asthma, cancer, and other negative health effects. The potential for these chemicals to pollute indoor air and impair the health and comfort of students and staff cannot be dismissed.
Thankfully, safer cleaning products are just as effective and affordable as conventional cleaning supplies, and are carried by all major distributors in Vermont. Even Vermont’s state buildings are already required to use green cleaning products as the result of the Clean State Program started in 2004. It’s time that our schools follow suit!