The Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI) has announced the expansion of its certification efforts to include computers and other electronic devices.
“Electronics, including monitors, computers and printers, can emit chemicals and particles into the air, particularly when in use,” says Carl E. Smith, CEO of GEI. “These chemicals may trigger a range of health issues, including asthma, allergies and other irritating reactions.”
With this new certification, consumers now have a way to identify computers and other electronic products that have been subjected to rigorous testing and found to be free of toxic emissions.
The GEI program measures chemical outgassing of the product during normal use and operation. Measured emissions then are compared to an extensive list of publicly available, short-term and long-term health-risk exposure levels available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety Health Administration, the state of California, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s registry of toxic substances.
A free online guide of Greenguard-certified products is available on the institute’s web site.
