WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 20, 2025--
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250320467669/en/
Respondents to the survey – conducted by Wakefield Research for ACI - agreed that cleaning has a positive impact on both their physical health (91%) and their mental health (84%).
During National Cleaning Week (March 23 – 29, 2025), ACI is shedding light on this vital connection between cleaning and health.
“Cleaning is no longer just about appearance; it's about safeguarding our health,” said Brian Sansoni, ACI Senior Vice President of Communications and Outreach. “Our survey shows that Americans understand the critical role cleaning plays in preventing illness and promoting well-being. As we celebrate National Cleaning Week, we are committed to help building healthier communities through cleaning best practices.”
Which cleaning and hygiene practices do Americans prioritize to stay healthy? The survey results indicate the top tasks were:
Interestingly, dusting (22%) ranked toward the bottom of the list despite the important role it plays in reducing asthma and allergy triggers.
ACI is sharing valuable guidance on how individuals can clean in a way that prioritizes health.
ACI is declaring 2025 as the year of “Cleaning for Health” and will be sharing relevant information and resources during National Cleaning Week and beyond. This initiative is part of ACI’s Cleaning is Caring campaign and aims to empower individuals with the knowledge and tools they need to use cleaning products safely and effectively, creating healthier living environments for themselves and their families.
For more information on National Cleaning Week, ACI's initiatives, and the full survey results, visit www.cleaninginstitute.org.
About the Survey
The ACI Spring Cleaning Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research ( www.wakefieldresearch.com ) among 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults ages 18+, between February 10th and February 18th, 2025, using an email invitation and an online survey. The data has been weighted to ensure an accurate representation of nationally representative U.S. adults ages 18+.
Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
American Cleaning Institute
The American Cleaning Institute® (ACI – www.cleaninginstitute.org ) is the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Products Industry® and represents the $60 billion U.S. cleaning product supply chain. ACI members include the manufacturers and formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and chemical distributors. ACI serves the growth and innovation of the U.S. cleaning products industry by advancing the health and quality of life of people and protecting our planet. ACI achieves this through a continuous commitment to sound science and being a credible voice for the cleaning products industry.
Nearly all Americans (97%) think cleaning and hygiene are important for public health and the health of our communities and 74% have changed their cleaning habits to improve health, according to survey data released by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI).
BOSTON (AP) — A Turkish student detained by federal officers as she walked along a street in a Boston suburb is the latest supporter of Palestinian causes to be swept up in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants who express their political views.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, a doctoral student at Tufts University, was swiftly moved out of Massachusetts, another case of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sending immigrants taken into custody to detention centers or deporting them altogether before a federal judge has a chance to weigh in and possibly halt the actions.
Ozturk, who was detained Tuesday shortly after she left her home in Somerville, had been moved to an ICE detention center in Louisiana by the time her lawyer went to court and a judge ordered her to be kept in Massachusetts, U.S. government lawyers said in a court document Thursday. They said they made her lawyers aware that she was being moved and facilitated contact with her Wednesday night.
A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said federal authorities detained Ozturk after an investigation found she had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.” The department did not provide evidence of that support.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration has revoked the visas of at least 300 people, including Ozturk: “We do it every day."
“We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist, to tear up our university campuses," Rubio told reporters during a stop in Guyana.
Friends and colleagues of Ozturk said she was not closely involved in pro-Palestinian protests that broke out on campuses last spring. Her only known activism, they said, was co-authoring an op-ed in a student newspaper that called on Tufts University to engage with student demands to cut ties with Israel.
“The only thing I know of that Rumeysa organized was a Thanksgiving potluck,” said Jennifer Hoyden, a friend who studied with Ozturk at Columbia University’s Teachers College. “There’s a very important distinction between writing a letter supporting the student Senate and taking the kind of action they’re accusing her of, which I’ve seen no evidence of.”
Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in an attack that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and during which about 250 hostages were seized. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed much of the enclave.
Ozturk’s arrest appears to be part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport students he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity,” a label the administration has applied broadly to those who criticize Israel and protest its military campaign in Gaza.
Earlier this month, immigration enforcement agents arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Palestinian activist who played a prominent part in protests at Columbia last year. He is now facing possible deportation.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney specialist from Lebanon who was due to start as an assistant professor at Brown University, was deported this month — after a federal judge ordered that she not be removed until a hearing could be held. Homeland Security officials said Alawieh was deported despite having a U.S. visa because she “openly admitted” supporting a Hezbollah leader.
A University of Alabama student was also detained this week by ICE, his lawyer confirmed. There was no indication that Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student from Iran studying mechanical engineering who was detained Tuesday, was involved in any protests, said attorney David Rozas.
“With the words of his fiancé, he is a nerd. All he does is study and is literally trying to fulfill his dream, the American dream, of becoming a researcher and professor of mechanical engineering,” Rozas said.
On Thursday evening, a few hundred people turned out at Somerville City Hall to rally for Ozturk’s release and for the greater Palestinian cause.
Speakers railed against Israel over the war in Gaza as well as the ICE raids that protesters said have left immigrant communities terrified. They also sang songs supporting the Palestinians — sometimes accompanied by a horn section — and led the crowd in chants of “Resistance Is justified when people are occupied.”
Among the speakers was Lebanese American Carina Kurban who said she was furious when she heard about the arrest of Ozturk and other scholars.
“I was born here. I’m a U.S. citizen, and I need to use that privilege that I have to speak up for those who can’t because of everything that’s happening with this administration,” Kurban said.
“America was built on free speech, so if we don’t have that, then what?” she added. “Then where do we go?”
Video obtained by The Associated Press appeared to show six people, all but one with their faces covered, taking away a shouting Ozturk’s phone before she was handcuffed on Tuesday.
“We’re the police,” members of the group are heard saying in the video.
A bystander is heard asking, “Why are you hiding your faces?”
Ozturk, who is Muslim, was meeting friends for iftar, a meal that breaks a fast at sunset during Ramadan, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai.
Khanbabai, who said no charges have been filed against Ozturk, filed a petition seeking her release Tuesday and then an emergency motion Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani initially issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained. Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours advance notice.
The government said in its response Thursday that it “will set forth the timeline” of Ozturk's arrest and transfer from Massachusetts.
The facility where she's being held is one of nine in Louisiana that house immigrants waiting for legal proceedings or deportation, according to a 2024 report on ICE’s website. It's situated on the outskirts of Basile, a rural town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Lafayette.
“We are in touch with local, state, and federal elected officials and hope that Rumeysa is provided the opportunity to avail herself of her due process rights,” Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said in a statement Wednesday night.
Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last March criticizing the university’s response to student demands that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
After the op-ed was published, Ozturk’s name, photograph and work history were published on the website Canary Mission, which describes itself as documenting people who “promote hatred of the U.S.A., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.”
Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.
Hundreds of people gather in Somerville, Mass., on March 26, 2025, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
Hundreds of people gather in Somerville, Mass., on March 26, 2025, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
Hundreds of people gather in Somerville, Mass., on March 26, 2025, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
Hundreds of people gather on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 in Somerville, Mass. to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
Hundreds of people gather on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 in Somerville, Mass. to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)