WASHINGTON – Today AspenClean announced its collection of nine cleaning products that meet the Environmental Working Group’s rigorous criteria for health, ingredient disclosure and transparency. These are the first cleaning products to earn the EWG VERIFIED™ mark.
EWG is widely recognized as the most trusted and rigorous evaluator of chemical safety in consumer products. EWG awards this prestigious mark only to products that meet stringent ingredient and transparency requirements.
“We are very proud that AspenClean is the first home cleaning brand to participate in this initiative,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “Earning the EWG VERIFIED mark isn’t easy, as anyone who has read our exacting criteria can attest. We are delighted to add healthy cleaners to the growing list of EWG VERIFIED products.”
Products earn the EWG VERIFIED mark by obtaining a score of an A or a B in EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning. The manufacturer must also disclose all intentionally added ingredients, including those used in fragrance. Fragrance can be concocted from any number of the almost 4,000 stock chemical ingredients used by the industry, the blend of which is almost always kept hidden from the consumer.
“The EWG VERIFIED mark prevents companies from hiding potentially harmful ingredients behind vague terms like ‘fragrance,’ ‘preservative’ and ‘cleaning agent,’” said Nneka Leiba, vice president of Healthy Living Science at EWG. “This allows consumers to know what’s really in their products, so they can avoid the toxic and potentially harmful chemicals widely used in household cleaners. We are thrilled that the EWG VERIFIED program continues to grow.”
To earn the mark, products also must meet air quality standards and pass microbial challenge tests to ensure they will be shelf stable, making healthy cleaners a reality for consumers.
Many cleaning products on the market are packaged in a virtual black box. EWG VERIFIED takes out the guesswork to make shopping stress free.
Most products on the market today are made with chemicals that were introduced several decades ago. Since then, scientists have found that many of these chemicals are linked to cancer, asthma, birth defects and fertility problems. EWG’s mark was designed to help consumers identify healthier products, right at the point of purchase.
“Fifteen years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way people clean homes, with a mission to create the healthiest, greenest and most effective alternative to toxic chemical cleaners,” said AspenClean Co-CEO Chris Solodko. “We are honored that AspenClean products are the first to meet EWG VERIFIED's strictest criteria for consumer health, transparency and environmental stewardship.”
EWG empowers consumers to make more informed decisions about their health, the environment and the products they buy, through research, education and advocacy. With almost 2.4 million annual visits, EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaners database is an important tool consumers can use to make healthier purchasing choices for themselves and their families.
EWG VERIFIED cleaners must:
- Avoid EWG's ingredients of concern. Products cannot contain any ingredients on EWG's "Unacceptable" list, meaning ingredients with health, ecotoxicity and/or contamination concerns.
- Provide full transparency. Products must meet EWG’s standards for ingredient disclosure on the product’s label and website, and provide full transparency to EWG, including fragrance ingredients.
- Use good manufacturing practices. Product manufacturers must develop and follow current good manufacturing practices to further ensure the safety of their products.
We encourage consumers to visit EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning to find out more about the products they're considering buying, particularly those that do not bear the EWG VERIFIED mark.
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The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
AspenClean was founded in 2004 in Vancouver, Canada with a mission of creating a healthier green alternative to chemical-based cleaning products.
