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Happy August and the end of summer!
Greetings! In this issue, we highlight how bringing our presentation to your facility’s Green Team can strengthen coordination across departments and advance both patient safety and sustainability goals. Facility Green Teams work to “green” the facility through environmentally safe and sustainable practices.
From uncovering the presence of PFAS-containing pesticides in sensitive patient care areas to showing how a prioritized Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program can prevent harmful exposures, our work equips healthcare leaders with the knowledge and tools to address these risks. We also share how pesticide use contributes to climate change and why adopting prioritized IPM is an essential strategy for any facility committed to environmental responsibility.
Additionally, as September is right around the corner, we encourage you to recognize Environmental Services (EVS) Week (Sept. 8-14) and the professionals who are essential to creating safe, healthy care environments. In this newsletter, you will also find insight from our on-staff expert with decades of EVS leadership experience, offering a unique perspective on how environmental services can lead the way in implementing safer, more sustainable pest management practices.
For information on non-toxic pest control options for facilities, visit our fact sheets, sample policies, guidance, articles, and video library. The Project's IPM Toolkit is available online. Contact Sean at sean@mdpestnet.org or call 301-664-4374 for support.
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– Sean Lynch
IPM in Health Care Facilities Project Director
| | Pesticides Don’t Just Harm Health—They Heat the Planet | |
| |  | News on climate change these days and even current alarming weather patterns we are experiencing is catching everyone’s attention, and surprising to most: pesticide use plays a notable role in exacerbating climate change! Climate Change is already shifting pest populations, increasing outbreaks, and putting pressure on facilities to respond quickly. As outlined by the Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network, North America (PANNA), the connection between climate change and pesticide use is a self-reinforcing cycle. Pesticide manufacture and use contribute significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while, at the same time, climate change is expected to increase pesticide applications. It’s a vicious cycle. The report highlights the staggering levels of greenhouse gases emitted throughout pesticides’ full lifecycles and how synthetic pesticides are ultimately derived from fossil fuels, while also outlining how climate change is anticipated to increase pest pressures and decrease the efficacy of pesticides – likely leading to increased pesticide use as climate change impacts worsen. So, pesticide use may be contributing to environmental degradation, public health burdens, and subsequent higher costs for your facility.
Prioritized Integrated Pest Management offers a different path. It is a strategy rooted in non-chemical pest prevention and intervention, where, for example, improving sanitation and maintenance come first. The least toxic pesticides are used only as a last resort. Adopting this approach not only protects patients, supports sustainability commitments, and reduces long-term operational risk but also supports the movement to help slow down climate change.
Our team is available to provide pro bono assistance to help you implement a model that reflects these values through policy review, training, and consultation.
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Check your disinfectants for risk level
Some regularly used disinfectants in facilities are actually registered pesticides that can deplete a patient’s immune system and harm respiratory function. Use the SaferDisinfectants.org website to see if what your facility uses is an “increased risk” or “safer” product.
Go to the SaferDisinfectants.org website's The List page and search your products by name, using your browser search keys, "Command + F" on Macs and "Control + F" on PCs. Type in the name to see if it has an increased risk or is a safer choice. View the Safer Choice list and sort by use site and need for better product choices.
Find effective safer products to replace the increased-risk ones
| | A Pro Bono Presentation For Your Facility’s Green Team | | |
Green Teams offer valuable facility-wide coordination, creating an excellent opportunity to learn together about pest pressures, pest management, and the important role each department plays in effective pest prevention and intervention. They also help build understanding of the potential adverse impacts pests—and unnecessary pesticide use—can have on the health and mental well-being of patients and staff. At the request of a Maryland hospital, we recently presented to its Green Team on how improving facility-wide coordination and adopting a prioritized Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach can protect patients and staff from unnecessary harmful pesticide exposures.
Attendees were especially struck to learn that some pesticides currently used in healthcare settings contain PFAS—so-called “forever chemicals.” These substances are persistent, bioaccumulative, and linked to serious health problems, including cancer, reproductive harm, and immune system suppression. Alarmingly, PFAS have been found in pest control products heavily promoted for use in health care facilities - even in intensive care units, neonatal units, and emergency rooms.
Just one exposure to a PFAS-containing pesticide can potentially affect a patient or staff member for years, and may interfere with treatment—particularly for individuals with respiratory, neurological, or immunocompromised conditions. PFAS are not only associated with, but have been confirmed to cause, certain cancers. Sadly, contracted vendors often, and unknowingly, use pesticides linked to the very illnesses patients are in the facility to treat.
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A Message from Our Expert
Joe Griffin had a 16-year tenure at Sheppard Pratt and 35+ years of Senior Level Facility Support Operations experience.
Environmental Services is usually the first point of contact whenever there are pest-related issues at Healthcare facilities. Their attention to detail, cleaning, and monitoring their work areas is an important tool in helping to avoid pest-related issues.
When I first learned about Integrated Pest Management, I assumed it would be difficult to bring into a busy healthcare facility. In reality, it was far easier than expected, and the benefits were immediate. By focusing on sanitation, maintenance, and simple preventive steps, we were able to stop most pest problems before they began. In the few situations where chemical intervention was unavoidable, we made sure to use only the least toxic products, applied carefully and sparingly. What impressed me most was how seamlessly these practices fit into the daily routines of our environmental services team, while at the same time reducing patient and staff exposure to unnecessary risk.
As EVS Week approaches, September 8 through 14, I encourage every facility to take the time to celebrate their environmental services team. They are often the unsung leaders of patient safety, and they are the ones who make practices like IPM successful. Recognizing their contributions not only honors their work but also reminds us of the central role they play in protecting patients, staff, and the community every single day.
Joe Griffin
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The IPM in Health Care Facilities Project promotes safer pest and weed management best practices that are effective and protect the public and environment. Exposure to harmful pesticides can cause or exacerbate the very issues for which patients/residents are being treated. We are dedicated to keeping you updated on important news and research. We support your efforts to ensure a protected and toxic-free environment for your facility and those you serve —
and ALL our IPM in Health Care Facilities Project services are FREE.
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