Scientific Study Concludes Maid Brigade Improves Air Quality in Homes

ATLANTA - A recent scientific field study concluded that Maid Brigade's Green Clean Certified™ system removed three times more particulate matter in the home than leading competitors. Additionally, the vacuums used by Maid Brigade, a national residential cleaning company, remove 99.9 percent of particles in the air that cause the most concern for triggering asthma and allergic reactions.

Maid Brigade commissioned QUEST Environmental, an environmental consulting company specializing in indoor air quality and the assessment of environmental management systems, to conduct the field study to assess the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the company's Green Clean Certified™ system . QUEST also conducted an emissions testing study to compare Maid Brigade's cleaning practices to three leading competitors.

"Our results concluded that Maid Brigade's Green Clean Certified™ SOPs are designed in accordance with internationally recognized management systems, and the company has sufficient documentation of training and implementation programs to verify its certification system," said Robert Woellner, Senior Scientist, QUEST. "By standardizing cleaning procedures, Maid Brigade is more able to control the consistency and quality of its cleaning services."

The results further concluded that the Green Clean Certified™ system minimized chemical and particulate emissions associated with cleaning practices, effectively removing particulate matter that can trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions.

"We commissioned this study because we wanted to be 100 percent sure that our cleaning system improved indoor air quality," Howard Purdy, Maid Brigade VP of Operations, said. "We can now tell our customers with total confidence that when we leave their home, it's not only cleaner, but it's also healthier."

Health effects of indoor air pollution
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than the air outside. The pollution can be caused by a number of sources - gas stoves, building materials and furniture, carpet, household cleaning products, dust, air fresheners or pesticides. These sources release liquid, gas or minuscule solid particles into the air where they can remain for extended periods of time. The particles can trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions because of the irritant effect these substances have on the lungs. Particulate matter (PM) is described by the EPA as a "mixture of mixtures" that varies in size. PM measuring less than 2.5 microns is of most concern because it's small enough to become lodged in the lungs.

"It is ironic that cleaning products can actually make the air dirtier," said Green Living expert Annie Bond. "In fact, new research points out that when many cleaning chemicals combine with ground level ozone, pollutants of even more serious health concern are produced than from the cleaning chemicals themselves, including ultrafine pollutant particles that harm the lungs."

Research indicates that on average, people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. So, the air inside can actually affect their health more than the air outside. The American Lung Association found that short-term increases (spanning from hours to days) in pollution caused by PM have been linked to an increased number of heart attacks, especially among the elderly, and increased emergency room visits for patients suffering from acute respiratory ailments. The severity of asthma attacks and hospitalization among children also increased. Year-round exposure to the pollution was linked to more severe health complications, including slowed lung function growth in children and teenagers, significant damage to the small airways of the lungs, and increased risk of death from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Maid Brigade offers green residential cleanings that eliminate the use of harsh, toxic chemicals that can cause pollution in the home. Maid Brigade's Green Clean Certified™ system is the only one using green solutions that are certified by Green Seal, an independent non-profit organization devoted to environmental standard setting, for a safe and thorough cleaning.

"One of the best parts of Maid Brigade's service is that unhealthy toxic pollution isn't introduced into the home with the cleaners to begin with," Bond said. "They use smart and thoughtful cleaning routines that result in indoor air that is three times cleaner of particulate matter than the air in the homes of leading competitors."