If you've ever bought a building material, equipment, cleaning product or medical device and you find the GREENGUARD Gold certification, it means that it passed the GREENGUARD Gold certification.
Products with this certification are scientifically proven to have met some standards that fight against chemical emissions and reduce the risk of indoor chemical exposure.
You may be wondering what precisely this certification means and why it's important for the safety of you and your family.
In this article, you'll find everything you need to know about the GREENGUARD Gold certification.
Before that, what are chemical emissions, and how do they affect the health and safety of you and your family?
Many of the household items in our homes or even the building materials used in building our homes emit some chemicals into the air.
Usually, it shouldn't be a source of concern because the level of these chemicals is relatively minute. However, it starts to accumulate and increase over time, which can be quite harmful to the home’s occupants.
These chemical emissions happen when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are usually present in most of these products dissipate into the atmosphere at room temperature.
VOCs are carbon-based chemicals found in building materials, furniture and other equipment; they convert to gas and separate to air.
8 out of 10 materials always have these VOCs, which invite at least 50 to 100 different VOCs to be in the indoor space.
According to research, there are more pollutants in the indoor air than the outdoor air. And the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States speculates that Americans spend almost 90% of their time indoors, which means that they are at risk of the pollutants flying around in the indoor space.
Some products or materials emit VOCs, and when these VOCs dissipate as gas, it causes nausea and difficulty breathing. However, these VOCs are only harmful when they're in substantial amounts.
In sum, VOCs can only be harmful to the health depending on different factors like:
There are no laws that ban the emission of VOCs. That's why companies continue to produce materials that emit them.
However, some health agencies advocate for controlled and reduced exposure to these chemical emissions. It's at this point that GREENGUARD comes into the picture.
The Greenguard Environment Institute (GEI) is one of the private organizations that test buildings, materials and products for the presence of chemical emissions. GREENGUARD performs these tests in alliance with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) consumer safety certification process.
The purpose of the UL GREENGUARD Gold certification program is to decrease pollutants and improve the air quality of indoor spaces. They put building materials and products to ensure the indoor space is safe. They test products like:
If you have any of these types of products and materials in your home, you may benefit from the GREENGUARD Gold certification program if they're certified by GREENGUARD.
There are two levels of GREENGUARD testing and certifications. They include:
When you notice the GREENGUARD Certified stamp on any material or product, it has been tested for over 10,000 chemicals and VOC emissions.
This implies that the product passed the test of low emission levels, which means the materials are safe to use indoors. Then you won't have to worry about the build-up of VOCs in your home and the reaction it causes in the body.
However, the GREENGUARD Gold certification is the highest level of accreditation. When a product has this stamp on it, it guarantees your family's safety.
The GREENGUARD Gold certification standard is a program that employs strict guidelines to test products for any VOC emissions and ensure that products are rid of them.
This certification ensures that chemical emissions are reduced to the barest minimum and that indoor air is conducive to living.
GREENGUARD Gold Certification is important because many products contain chemicals that are harmful to the health, and it's more detrimental to people with weak immune systems.
For instance, the formaldehyde levels in a GREENGUARD product have to be low so that the product can be fit indoors.
The reason is that if babies or elderly individuals are exposed to this chemical, it can lead to health problems like asthma. After all, these people have a weaker immune system.
Ceilings are an essential part of building materials. Most of the ceilings out there emit some chemicals into the air, which is terrible for your health.
However, some ceilings have been able to pass through the GREENGUARD Gold test and have been found to have the littlest amount of chemicals and VOC emissions.
For instant USG ME SONATA/SONATA Healthcare is a reasonable ceiling choice if you’re searching for one with the GREENGUARD Gold certification.
In addition to using materials and products with the GREENGUARD Gold certification, there are simple ways by which you can minimise pollutants and chemicals in your home. They include:
By opening the windows in your home, you're releasing old air filled with pollutants and bringing in the new and fresh air. When you do this, your home’s level of chemicals and VOCs reduces drastically.
You can decorate your home with plants. These plants are not just there to beautify your home but also serve as a filter to clear the room from pollutants and chemical emissions.
Some plants are more suitable for this purpose. They include aloe vera, peace lilies and Chinese evergreens. They perform excellently in filtering the indoor air.
Installing an air quality motor is another way to rid your home of pollutants. The device works by giving numbers on the level of contaminants in your home.
The advanced model of this motor displays the number of pollutants in your home. When you know how high the level of contaminants is in your home, you start to take the necessary steps to get rid of them.
Air purifiers are a better alternative to opening your windows. However, use an air purifier with carbon filters to effectively rid the air of pollutants.
