New Urinal Cakes Help Eliminate Health Risk from Washroom Hygiene Services

For as long as most people can remember, there was one type of urinal cake available. Smelling very strongly, it was made with an active ingredient called para dichlorol benzine, and was affordable, eliminated odor, and some even had enzymes that would break down odor-causing matter remaining in the urinal. Workers who installed them, however, were routinely ill, and restroom visitors were often overwhelmed by the powerful chemical-based odors. Now, new natural bio-based urinal cakes without para dichlorol benzine (known as “para”) are making life safer for washroom hygiene services and restroom users alike.

“People who worked with the para urinal cakes and installed them would become sick. Para can cause some very serious illnesses such as leukemia,” says Wim Langerweij, director of HYSCON, a hygiene services company based in The Netherlands. “Just in day to day work, they complained of headaches.”

The reasons for worker illness began becoming clear when, in the 1980s, it was found that para had negative effects both on human health and on the environment. In 1987, it was first officially listed as a carcinogenic (cancer-causing agent) and has also been classified as an ozone-depleting substance (ODS), harming the ozone layer of the planet.

Finally the law caught up with the scientific findings: June 31, 2005 was the last day para urinal cakes were allowed to be sold and placed in the European Union, and as of June 31, 2006, they are illegal in the state of California in the US as well.

Remaining states of the US will be following shortly, and other countries are already taking notice of the European and California initiatives. For example, while para cakes are not yet illegal in Mexico, their use is diminishing. “They are still used, but you see them much less frequently,” says Dr. Enrique Esparsa, president of Odorite Northwest, a washroom hygiene services company in Guadalajara, Mexico. “My customers do not use them. Mexico usually follows what happens in the US.”

Because of the need for urinal cakes, Odorite International, an international hygiene service supply manufacturer, is adding earth friendly bio-based non-para urinal cakes to their long line of natural restroom hygiene products. These cakes are initially in pine available in a wide variety of natural scent — a blessed relief from the overpowering chemical scents of old — and are manufactured from the natural products such as alfalfa and chlorophyllin. They also include a chelation ingredient which greatly assists in keeping urinals and drains rust-free.

Other hygiene products in their line include restroom deodorizers, urinal screens, and numerous other products known for their natural scents, many of which have even been localized by region. For example, Floral, Ozone, and Tropical were made specifically for Europe and the UK, and Berry, Floral, Herbal and Spice are manufactured for the in the Pacific Asian market.

Odorite also has a revolutionary approach to marketing with its cost-effective “exclusive distributorship” model, one which is replacing the franchise-based model in many parts of the world. They grant each of their world-wide distributors an exclusive selling area, and distributors are simply required to order product. There are no up-front or royalty fees, or any kind of annual dues paid for brand usage.

Since the dangers of para-based urinal cakes have become public knowledge, washroom hygiene services companies have been waiting for an efficient replacement. The new earth friendly bio-based natural urinal cakes, a significant improvement on the old design in many ways, will be warmly welcomed.

###

Odorite International, Inc.
Cindy Walter
Kansas City, MO 64127
cindy@odorite.com
Phone: (816) 920-5000
Fax: (816) 920-5511
http://www.odorite.com