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EcoLogo Standard for Hand Antiseptics Requires ASTM D6866 Testing

hand sanitizerManufacturers and distributors who want their instant hand antiseptic products to be certified by Canada’s EcoLogo need to comply with the program’s environmental standard CCD-170, which requires the products to be at least 73% biobased. The biobased content of the products is determined through ASTM D6866 testing. Products that comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred Program are also elegible for an EcoLogo if they meet the CCD-170’s other criteria.

Eligible Products

The CCD-170 standard is applicable to waterless hand sanitizers, waterless hand antiseptics, or professional hygienic hand rubs and other antiseptic-containing drug products that are applied on the skin to prevent infection or cross-contamination. The scope of the standard includes “antiseptic-containing preparation designed for frequent application without a water rinse and which reduces the number of microorganisms on intact skin.”

Products not covered by the CCD-170 include disinfectant soaps, hand sanitizing products that require rinsing, patient preoperative skin preparations, surgical hand scrubs, and aerosols or wipes. The use of EcoLogo-certified instant hand antiseptic products is restricted to the “away from home market.”

The CCD-170 Standard

This environmental standard certification criteria document published by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc. for the EcoLogo program outlines general and product specific requirements and details substances that should not be part of the formulation. The environmental hazards, performance and safety requirements, labeling requirements, verification, and conditions for EcoLogo Use are also specified in the standard.

The CCD-170 was initiated in March 2009. The final version was first published on February 10, 2010, and is scheduled for review in February 2013. More information about the standard is found here.

Update: CCD-170 is now called UL 2783 Instant Hand Antiseptics


This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 and is filed under Biobased Products .