Posted by Johann Nacario — June 24, 2024 — In a move aimed at better protecting the health of custodial staff, federal employees, and the environment, the Biden-Harris Administration in April directed government contractors to purchase PFAS-free cleaning products for federal buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) collaborated to implement President Biden’s Federal Sustainability Plan, which directs federal agencies to prioritize the purchase of sustainable products and services, including products without added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.”
EPA’s Safer Choice helps consumers, businesses, and purchasers find products that perform and contain ingredients that are safer for human health and the environment.
The change is reflected in GSA’s custodial specification, which now prioritizes PFAS-free cleaning products. Contractors will be required to use products certified to ecolabels such as EPA’s Safer Choice, which meet strict criteria for human health and the environment by using effective, safer chemical alternatives, as well as certain Green Seal certifications.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan stated:
Everyone deserves protection from the harmful effects of forever chemicals, including the workers who use cleaning products, federal employees, and those who visit government buildings every day. EPA has well recognized and established tools to help our partners in the federal government identify cleaning products that use safer ingredients and do not contain intentionally added PFAS to keep people safe and healthy
And GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan remarked:
As the largest single buyer of goods and services in the world, the federal government can play a big role in helping reduce PFAS through its purchasing. Changing the requirements in our contracts is a way to answer President Biden’s call for the federal government to lead by example in buying sustainable products and services.
Currently, GSA’s Public Buildings Service has more than 600 contracts for custodial services at more than 1,500 U.S. government-owned buildings at a cost of more than $400 million per year and expects that most of these contracts will include the new specifications within five years. The updated specification requires that contractors use cleaners and hand soaps must be certified to the EPA Safer Choice, Green Seal GS-37, Green Seal GS-41, or Green Seal GS-53 certifications, which do not allow intentionally added PFAS in product formulations. This is in addition to meeting federal statutory requirements, including the minimum biobased content requirement set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred Program.
To assist federal buyers, program managers and vendors working with federal agencies, EPA and GSA collaborated on several steps to make it easier to identify and buy products, such as cleaning products, that do not contain PFAS, including:
- GSA’s SFTool (Sustainable Facilities Tool) Product Search has a “PFAS Addressed” filter to browse for products certified to ecolabels and standards that are required for use in federal purchasing.
- GSA’s Advantage shopping and ordering website is now enhanced to make it easier to find products that are Safer Choice-certified.
- EPA’s Safer Choice Program offered a webinar on how updates to federal purchasing and GSA Advantage provide further incentives for businesses to acquire and maintain Safer Choice certification for their products, as well as how product manufacturers can feature their product benefits in GSA Advantage. Product manufacturers and purchasers are encouraged to attend. Watch the webinar: “Updates to GSA Advantage and what it means for Safer Choice-certified products”
- Learn more about GSA’s National Custodial Specifications.
- Learn more about EPA’s Safer Choice program.
- Learn more about EPA’s recommended standards and ecolabels and how they address PFAS.
- Learn more about Green Seal certifications and certified products.
