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All Jonti-Craft products are now
GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality certified and GREENGUARD Children &
Schools certified. The GREENGUARD Children & Schools
maximum levels of VOCs are half that of the GREENGUARD Indoor Air
Quality maximum levels, requiring products to meet even more strict
emissions limits of VOCs, formaldehyde, phthalates, and fine respirable
particles. The Children & Schools Certification was designed to take
into account the unique sensitivities of children. This means that when you buy products from Jonti-Craft,
you know you contributing to healthier indoor air quality.
The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) is a third-party
organization that certifies products for low chemical emissions.
GREENGUARD standards are among the most stringent product emissions
standards in the world. Many products that you use everyday can give off
harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds.) These chemical emissions can
negatively impact indoor air quality,
Because people spend more than 90% of their time indoors, indoor air
quality is a very important issue. The level of air pollutants indoors
are typically 2 to 5 times higher than those found outside. The U.S. EPA
and American Lung Association recognized poor indoor air quality as “one
of the greatest modern risks to human health.” Also, according to The
World Health Report 2002, air pollution is responsible for 2.7 percent
of the global burden of disease.
Indoor air pollution can lead to serious health consequences such as
asthma, headaches and respiratory diseases. More serious effects of
indoor air pollution are neurological disease, reproductive and
developmental defects, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. Poor
indoor air quality is especially important to children’s health. This is
because children breathe in more air than adults relative to their body
size. Also, children’s organs and important body systems are still
developing and can be damaged by VOCs. Children have a higher heart rate
which allows substances absorbed into the blood to permeate tissues
faster. Because of these things, children are much more susceptible to
negative health impacts. Currently, 73 million children under the age of
18 in the United States alone are at risk from indoor air pollution.
Jonti-Craft’s achievement is very unique as more than 3,000 SKUs
obtained GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification and did so without
having to make adjustments to the material supply or processes. This is
not an easy task, and GREENGUARD commends the company on their continued
commitment to create healthier indoor environments where children learn
and play.
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