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Dry Clean Green
Hello, my name is Tim Maxwell and I am the President of GreenEarth Cleaning. I would like to address the green washing comments posted here. GreenEarth is, and has always been, 100% open and honest about its environment and safety profile. In fact, we are the only alternative solvent system willing to perform and openly report results of scientific testing on the solvent we use or its application in our cleaning system; we also routinely share relevant regulatory evaluations. We suspect that Mr. Ghelmwood already knows this, because it has been posted on our website since March, 2008, but to set the record straight: while GreenEarth is not currently approved for the AB998 grant program, CARB did endorse GreenEarth as "acceptable dry cleaning solvent alternative" that “poses no risk the public”, and that they "see no need" to regulate use of liquid silicone in dry cleaning. With respect to the comment about OEHHA, as we publically stated last year on the same issue, GreenEarth would sincerely welcome a biomontioring program. To date, the concerns raised about the potential for bioaccumulation of silicone are derived from computer modeling theory rather than real world empirical data. We believe that a biomonitoring program would support what over 50 studies, more than 60 years of real world use in personal care products, and 10 years of use in our dry cleaning application have consistently shown about D5 silicone: it is perfectly safe when used as intended. The safety of a food or chemical is often a matter of degree. Fluoride, salt and aspirin are all chemicals that can be toxic at high levels, but because their intended applications do not exceed safe limits, and because they provide benefits when used appropriately, we use them every day without concern. This is in fact the reason CARB could be comfortable making statements about the human health and environmental safety of GreenEarth — because the way we use silicone is exceedingly safe. In our dry cleaning application, silicone is continually recycled within the machine in a closed loop system, it does not empty down a drain; bioaccumulation would, in point of fact, be an irrelevant concern with respect to the GreenEarth Cleaning system. With trust we do not need to respond to Mr. Shaw’s comment, although we wish him the best and always have. He uses a safe and green system and is justifiably proud of his success. To learn more about GreenEarth, or to see some of our own positive press, we welcome readers to visit www.greenearthcleaning.com.— April 15, 2010 2:49 p.m.