Environmental Justice Through Safer and More Sustainable Products
Long-term care providers face a constant balancing act, maintaining rigorous infection prevention while protecting the health of residents and frontline staff from unnecessary chemical exposures. Cleaning and disinfection products are essential tools in healthcare environments, but their overuse, or misuse, can negatively affect indoor air quality, worker safety, and the overall wellbeing of vulnerable populations.
Live Together, Inc., CleanHealth Environmental, LLC, and the Maryland Department of the Environment have completed technical assistance funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safer Choice Program and Pollution Prevention (P2) program to advance safer cleaning in long-term care and congregate living settings. The work has resulted in the creation of a Safer Choice Resource Toolkit and Case Study that is available for use by nursing homes, assisted living settings, congregate living communities, and additional settings that serve vulnerable populations. The toolkit includes new resources to assist environmental services and front-line care staff reduce chemical exposure while strengthening infection prevention.
Why Safer Cleaning Matters in Long-Term Care and Congregate Living Settings
Environmental services teams play a critical role in infection prevention, yet they are also among the workers most exposed to cleaning chemicals. In long-term care settings, where residents may already have respiratory vulnerabilities or compromised immune systems, indoor environmental quality becomes even more important. In congregate living settings, residents are responsible for their personal spaces and in-house or contracted environmental services clean and disinfect the communal spaces. Focus groups and subsequent training can assist residents and staff to provide safer environments for living and working.
The initiative recognized that effective infection prevention does not require excessive chemical use. Instead, improved training, appropriate product selection, and consistent cleaning protocols can reduce unnecessary exposure while maintaining high standards of hygiene.
The program specifically focused on; reducing reliance on hazardous chemicals, improving indoor air quality in care environments, protecting frontline environmental services and care workers, supporting safer conditions for residents, and aligning procurement practices with EPA Safer Choice and Environmentally Preferable Purchasing recommendations.