SPF Product Stewardship Program

Presentation to EPA, OSHA, NIOSH, CPSC

April 14, 2010

Neeva-Gayle Candelori, Director

ACC Center for the Polyurethanes Industry
Today’s Discussion

 Provide overview of Tier 1 SPF health and safety activities.

 Discuss Tier 2 SPF health and safety strategy and proposed 

activities.

 Receive input on proposed SPF health and safety activities.

 Review short-term and longer-term product stewardship 

deliverables. 

 Feedback on key research programs.
Overview of Tier 1 

SPF Health and Safety Activities
Tier 1 SPF Product Stewardship 

Program

• CPI and SPFA program designed to address four key priority 

areas:

– Hazard Communications

– Best Practices

– Marketing Claims

– MDI Exposure Research

• Redeployed resources; reprioritized all projects and budgets.

• Developed discrete guidance documents, posters, and Q&A’s

• Launched website as mechanism to communicate more broadly 

to the SPF industry and other stakeholders.

4
Materials Recap

September 2009 – March 2010

• Includes guidance documents, Q&A’s.

• Printed and disseminated via CPI and 

SPFA member companies (5,000x).

• SPF Value Chain

• Systems Houses, Distributors, Contractors

• Tradeshows 

• Building and Construction Sector

• SPF Health and Safety Website

• Updated powerpoint and workbook were 

posted to the CPI website March 30, 2010
SPF Health and Safety Website Recap

August 2009 – March 2010

www.spraypolyurethane.com

Page Visit Summary

Visitors 9,232

Visits 16,720

August 2009 1,750

September 2009 1,700

October 2009 2,000

Average per Day 65

Average Visit Duration 00:08:09

October 2009 2,000

November 2009 1,700

December 2009 1,700

January 2010 2,250

February 2010 2,150

March 2010 2,350
Media Outreach Recap

August 2009 – December 2009

• CPI issued four press releases on SPF product 

stewardship initiatives such as a new web site, 

guidance, panel sessions/webinars at key industry 

events:

– CPI and SPFA Launch an Enhanced Product Stewardship 

Program to Support Installation and Use of Spray Polyurethane 

Foam, 8/31/2009

– ACC and SPFA Announce New Panel Session on Spray 

Polyurethane Foam at CPI Conference, 9/23/2009

– Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation Performance Benefits and 

Product Stewardship Focus of Special Session at 

Polyurethanes 2009 Technical Conference, 10/7/2009

– Industry Experts to Join Special EPA-Hosted Panel on Spray 

Polyurethane Foam Product Stewardship, 11/5/2009

• Results: 61 clips reaching an audience of more than 

38 million in trade and business media including: 

Environmental Design & Construction, Yahoo News!, 

Spray Foam Magazine, Rubber World, Housing Zone, 

Sustainable Facility Magazine, Roofing Contractor, PU 

(Polyurethanes) International
Third Party Outreach

• Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA)

• Systems Houses

• Association of General Contractors of America (AGC)

• Insulation Contractors Association of America (ICAA)

• National Association of Insulation Manufacturers (NAIMA)

• National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)

• National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA)

• DOE Weatherization Program

• Department of Defense

• Training / Certification Organizations
SPF Systems Houses

Outreach and Commitment

 CPI conducted outreach to ALL SPF 

Systems Houses; overall support for SPF 

product stewardship initiative.

 Systems Houses committed to continue to 

improve worker safety and training in the 

 Systems Houses commitments received by CPI to 

date include:

– Arnco

– BASF Corporation

– Bay Systems

– BioBased Technologies

– Burtin Polymer Laboratories

improve worker safety and training in the 

broader SPF community.

 Systems Houses committed to integrate 

and/or disseminate CPI’s Health and 

Safety Product Stewardship Program for 

High-Pressure Application of Spray 

Polyurethane Foam (SPF) Workbook, 

accompanying training slides, and related 

test questions into existing training 

materials and/or to SPF contractors.

– Burtin Polymer Laboratories

– Fomo Products, Inc. 

– Gaco Western

– Henry Company

– Johns Manville

– Icynene Inc.

– LaPolla Industries Inc. 

– NCFI Polyurethanes

– Polyfoam Products, Inc. 

– Premium Spray Products

– SWD Urethane

– Urethane Soy Systems

– West Development Group
Tier 2 SPF Health and Safety 

Strategy and Proposed Activities
Tier 2 Strategy

• Program focuses on practices and communications that will help to minimize 

exposures of workers and building occupants to spray foam chemicals. 

• Three-pronged strategic approach to SPF product stewardship:

– Worker Performance and Training. Build and deploy a national health and safety training 

program for professional SPF contractors working with 1 and 2-component SPF.

– Outreach. Educate DIY’ers, consumers and the building/construction sector about key 

issues informing the selection of a contractor; differences between SPF products; health 

and safety practices for DIY’ers and consumers during and after product installation; 

understanding green marketing claims; and re-occupancy times. 

– Research. Build out research and testing programs to develop a better understanding of 

chemical issues and analytical exposure assessment methods associated with SPF, and 

engineering controls used during installation. 
Worker Training and Performance
SPF Contractors

• Existing Training Module

– Short term strategy: 

• CPI updated its 71-page workbook 

and powerpoint - posted to 

website. (3/30/10)

• CPI engaging existing training 

programs for rapid deployment. 

(5/1/10) 

• Individual company training 

webinars underway utilizing CPI 

materials. (4/10) 

• Workbook undergoing review for 

additional updates.
SPF Contractors

• Proposed Training Module Concept

– Longer-Term Strategy:

 Implementation of national SPF health and 

safety training program. 

 Identification of parameters for training 

program underway. 

 Identification of third party contractors to 

implement a learning management system 

underway.

• Outreach to systems houses, distributors, 

related industry organizations, and other third 

parties underway. 

• Administer online training webinar and exam, 

provide metrics including: number of peoples 

who have passed and received a certificate, % 

Pass/Fail, # attempts, and information on 

questions frequently missed.
SPF Contractors 

• Proposed Training Parameters:

– Training required for sprayer and helper. 

– Intend to have all sprayers and applicators certified by Jan 1, 2011.

– Initial certificate of completion (details to be developed) and re-testing every 2 years thereafter.

– Individuals Individuals who have completed who have completed health and safety training and safety training using CPI materials CPI materials (since Feb 14, 2010) Feb 14, 2010) will 

receive certificate of completion credit. After program launch date, must successfully pass CPI exam 

following completion of training.

– Training and examination may be delivered on-line or in person, provided training and exam are 

delivered using CPI materials.

– Exam comprised of 30 questions, randomly selected from pool of 200 questions. Each time an individual 

takes the exam, test is reordered and 30 questions are randomly chosen.

– Each time an individual fails the 30-question exam (passing score = 70%?), must re-take portion of the 

course where answered incorrect questions. May re-take the exam any time thereafter.

– If the exam administered in-person, instructor may review the missed questions and the individual will be 

provided the opportunity to re-take a new randomly-selected version of the exam.

– Certificate of completion may be printed out immediately after successful completion of the exam. 

Includes expiration date 2 years after date of the exam.

– Training materials approx 1.5-2 hours.
Weatherization Contractors

• Proposed Training Module Concept

– Materials to be developed and made 

available to weatherization contractors.

– In dialogue with the National Center for 

Construction Education and Research 

(NCCER) regarding integration of CPI 

SPF health and safety product 

stewardship content into program 

currently under development –

“Fundamentals of Weatherization”.
Additional Guidance Materials

• Ventilation Guide

– To provide contractors with information on how to set up an effective containment 

and ventilation for removal of SPF chemicals during application and for a period 

of time thereafter.

• Respirator Selection Guide

– Guidance on the selection of respirators and accessories and cartridge 

changeout schedules.

– Paper to be presented at CPI’s Polyurethanes 2010 Conference. (10/12/10)

• Spanish translation of SPF product stewardship training 

and guidance materials
Website Outreach

Use and Handling

Training / Guidance

About SPF

Contractor / Builder FAQs

Tip Sheet

Virtual Tour (longer-term)

Resources
Outreach
Proposed 2010 Key Objectives

• Build-out Weatherization Contractor, 

D-I-Y, and Consumer-facing website 

to answer key questions:

– Product safety

– Re-occupancy times

– Questions on installed product

• Promote training programs / guidance 

materials / tip sheets / videos.

• Communicate health and safety 

aspects and benefits of SPF.

• Build out SPF supply chain database.

www.spraypolyurethane.com
D-I-Y and 

Building and Construction Sector 

• Focus on those responsible for specifying SPF in 

buildings, building owners, school superintendents. 

• Educate D-I-Y and B&C sector on SPF product 

differences.

• Integration of SPF safety messages into big box 

retailer existing workshops.

• Guidance on re-occupancy times, ventilation.

• D-I-Y Guidance on OCF.

– Where & Why

– How To Use OCF

– Safety Precautions

• D-I-Y Tip Sheets / FAQs / POS Flyer

• Re-occupancy Guidance (Buildings / Schools/Homes) 

• Applicator guidance on 2K Low Pressure SPF Kits.

• Guidance when having SPF installed in schools. 

• Enhanced marketing claims guidance document. 

• Guidance when specifying SPF.
Consumer

Re-occupancy

Understanding marketing claims and 

health and safety information

Consumer Tips Sheet

Consumer FAQs

Benefits
Additional Outreach

Virtual Tour

Social Media

(Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)

Professional News Kits

Benchmarking Survey

(attitudes / awareness)
Media Outreach

• 2 Feature Story Releases for Local Newspapers: "How To Save On Cooling 

Costs This Season" 

– Focus: SPF as one way for homeowners to conserve energy and highlight safe handling. We will 

distribute a timely “spring/summer home improvement” article and a more evergreen version for the 

fall/winter.

– Audience: Consumer/DIY

– Distribution: April/May 2010; October/November 2010

– Reach: The article will be distributed to 10,000 newspapers across the country to reach a mass 

consumer audience. We estimate at least 60 – 100 placements in print newspapers for each release. 

• Byline for professional trade media: Roofing Contractor article on the safe 

application of SPF for roofing systems as part of the magazine’s summer feature on 

SPF

– Distribution: June 2010

– Reach: Circulation of 25,000 (97% roofing contractors)

• Press release: New Spray Polyurethane Foam Safe Handling Program 

Available from Center for the Polyurethanes Industry

– Distribution: April/May 2010
Media Outreach

• Consumer/DIY

– Print/Online media: pitching DIY and home improvement magazines for bylines and 

articles related to insulating homes for increased energy efficiency to lower utility bills and 

to add market value to your home (Ex. Handy, Family Handyman, Extreme How-To) 

– Broadcast: contacting HGTV’s Renovation Nation for a program on SPF showing PPE for 

the applicator; contacting PBS to add voiceover safety message for a program to be aired 

featuring SPF; contacting Remodeling TV and other “home/renovation” television shows to 

educate consumers on safe handling and how to choose a SPF contractor. 

– Blogs: monitoring blogs to identify where we can send short, concise information related 

to our primary and secondary message; these include home improvement blogs, trade and 

green blogs. 

• Industry associations

– Approaching trade, industry and other relevant associations to include SPF safety 

information in their newsletters; this will be a “how-to” on typical questions their customers 

may ask and how to respond.
Research
Proposed 2010 Objectives

• Research

– Conduct research on diisocyanates (MDI, pMDI) and other SPF raw 

materials used in 1 and 2-component SPF. 

– Projects Projects to support to support the overall product the overall product stewardship stewardship program program include: include:

• IH monitoring methods for MDI and pMDI 

• pMDI and polyurethane dust exposures during the post-application of trimming / 

cutting 

• Ventilation Techniques

• SPF Emissions Testing Protocol

• Re-occupancy times

• Curing Times
Research

• SPF Emissions Testing Protocol

– Developed draft protocol to conduct emissions testing on samples of SPF, analyzing for MDI, amine 

catalysts, and blowing agents.

– Protocol shared with Air Quality Sciences, Saskatchewan Research Council, and Berkeley Analytical 

Associates (Richmond, CA) to discuss draft protocol, emissions testing, and need to validate protocol. 

– ASTM and UL Environment efforts underway concerning development of emissions testing-related 

standards specific to insulation products. CPI is exploring current efforts. 

• Air Monitoring

– DoE and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory project to retrofit 10 homes.

– CPI in dialogue with project leads to determine whether this might be an opportunity to conduct air 

monitoring during interior residential application of SPF.

• Ventilation

– CPI plans to meet with NIOSH and other agency representatives in Cincinnati on May 6, 2010 to discuss 

potential ventilation techniques during SPF application.

• Total NCO

– Preliminary discussions underway and CPI is following up with the agencies to 

schedule a meeting on this topic.
SPF Product Stewardship 

Organization Chart
Questions / Comments
Thank You!
Contact Information

Neeva-Gayle Candelori, Director

ACC Center for the Polyurethanes Industry

1300 Wilson Blvd. 

Arlington, VA 22209

Tel: 703.741.5103

Email: neeva_candelori@americanchemistry.com