It's Time To Clean Up Our (Cleaning) Act

Article provided by Larry Smith, Vice President of Sales at GenEon Technologies.

August 12, 2019 Leave a Comment

The cleaning industry is all about getting rid of dirt and germs. Just how we get rid of them is becoming more and more important to increasingly safety-savvy consumers.

They know that, ironically, the very products we depend on to make our physical environments clean and safe are too often highly toxic.


From the CDC to the World Health Organization to The American Lung Association, the verdict is in: cleaners and disinfectants are harming us. Even killing us. These products are complicit in birth defects, ADHD, autism, asthma, and allergies, respiratory disease and even cancer. One recent, impressively large study stands out: Norway's University of Bergen studied 6,235 people over 20 years and concluded that the regular use of cleaning sprays is as harmful to lungs as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 10 to 20 years. This is particularly true for women. We men need to know that endocrine disruptors found in cleaning products have been linked to the startling reduction in sperm count over the last generation and a half. A 52% reduction, in fact. And that's from an analysis of 185 studies of nearly 43,000 men. Startling statistics indeed.

This brings us to one of the cleaning industry's biggest challenges, i.e. how to kill germs without harming the very people we're trying to protect. The good news is that there is a technology that generates products that are nearly unrivaled at killing germs – 80 to 100 times better at it than bleach, in fact – yet harmless to people or planet.


There are two pieces to this good news.

We begin with Electrochemically Activated Water, or ECA for short, a technology that has been around for decades. In simplest terms, ECA uses salt, water, and electricity to produce products that can replace cleaners, degreasers, window cleaners, sanitizers and disinfectants. In fact, ECA can reduce your use of cleaning chemicals by well over 50%. And it will not harm people or the planet.

Dwell time is crucial to disinfecting, of course, and most chemical disinfectants require that a surface be kept wet for 10 minutes. ECA's disinfectant will kill most bacteria in seconds – yes, seconds. Even nasty ones like E.coli, MRSA and norovirus. ECA leaves no chemical residue, emits no fumes or VOCs, and has no fragrance (the evils of fragrances could fill an entire article).

And the good news just gets better.

ECA is produced by On Site Generation, or OSG. OSG means what it says: a facility produces its own cleaners, sanitizers, and disinfectants right on site. No more reordering of chemicals, no more deliveries, and a tremendous cost savings.


Together, ECA and OSG are a winning combination when it comes to both green cleaning and sustainability.

From a sustainability perspective, this combination is unrivaled, even when compared to third party-certified green chemicals. On Site Generation means no extraction of raw materials, no manufacturing, no transportation of product, and a reduction in waste. This adds up to a huge reduction in your carbon footprint. As more investors and consumers look for businesses that take sustainability seriously, ECA and OSG are an especially winning combination.

No wonder U.S. Green Chamber CEO, Michelle Thatcher, calls these technologies "a game changer for sustainability."

As for green cleaning, ECA and OSG together add up to great benefits for you, your cleaning staff, your employees, and your guests.

• Produces products on site and on demand
• Virtually eliminates constant reordering of cleaning products
• Requires minimal training
• Eliminates mixing, reducing harmful accidents
• Reduces storage and handling
• Reduces harmful exposure of staff, cutting absenteeism and workers compensation
• Protects employees and guests from exposure to harmful chemicals

This technology boosts your "green image" with increasingly savvy consumers who understand the dangers of harmful chemicals – to them, their children, and the planet.

"But what about the bottom line?" you ask. Perhaps this is best answered by citing a case study from Georgia Institute of Technology, a recognized leader in sustainability research. They did their own testing of on site-generated ECA and concluded it was by far the best and most cost-effective way to clean their entire campus. They estimate they have reduced their use of chemical cleaners by over 90%. And they're saving over $300,000 a year in cleaning costs. Clearly a boost to their bottom line.

We can clean and sanitize without using products that harm the very people we are trying to protect. With ECA and OSG, clean buildings are also safe, healthy buildings – for us, our children, and for our planet.

About the Author

Larry Smith is a consultant to the ECA industry and formerly president of an ECA company in Florida. He is currently Vice President of Sales for GenEon Technologies whose OSG technology offers a healthy and sustainable alternative to traditional and even green cleaning products. Larry was introduced to ECA back in 2004 when he worked with a start-up company that manufactured on site generators. The company was bought by a multi-billion-dollar chemical company that promised to expand and promote the start-up. Instead, they promptly shut it down. Since then, Larry has been on a mission to reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals. The arrival of two grandchildren a few years ago has heightened his commitment to protecting those among us who are most vulnerable to environmental toxins.

Larry may be reached at larrysmith5876@gmail.com or at 978.985.1116.