Are Your Cleaning Products Toxic?
Consumers buy cleaning products to do one thing: clean. Are your cleaning products toxic? We have cleaners for everything imaginable in our house: Windows to ovens, floors to the bathroom, kitchen surfaces, there’s a cleaner for every surface in our home. There are no warnings that tell consumers that use of this product can cause cancer. Maybe it is time to start. Using commercial household cleaners also destroys health. Yet, who thinks about what is in the cleaning product being used?
What is the Most Dangerous Cleaning Product?
Philip Dickey ,of the Washington Toxic Coalition, states the most acutely dangerous cleaning products are drain cleaners, oven cleaners and acidic toilet bowl cleaners. These corrosive chemicals can cause severe burns to the eyes, skin and if ingested in the throat and esophagus. Chlorine bleach and ammonia have high acute toxicity which can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and lungs.
These products are not recommended to be used around asthmatics or people with heart or lung problems. Mixing these chemicals with other chemicals can combine to make dangerous lung- damaging chemicals. Chlorine and ammonia or and ammonia and lye produce chloramine gases, which are commonly used in oven cleaners while chlorine combined with acids, which are usually in toilet bowl cleaners, form toxic chlorine gas.
Drano by ticktacky Harmful Household Chemical
Fragrances: Smelly Stuff Billed As Healthy is Harmful
Fragrances, commonly found in laundry detergents and fabric softeners, can also cause acute effects such as respiratory irritation, sneezing, watery eyes, and headaches especially for allergy and asthma sufferers. The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety has found that one third of the substances used in the fragrance industry are toxic. The trouble with fragrances is the manufacturer gets away with not listing actual substances found in their products because they are “trade secrets”. The company just lists a generic “fragrance.”
All Purpose Cleaners That Can Prove Deadly
All-purpose cleaners contain the sudsing agents DEA (diethanolamine) AND TEA (triethanolamine), which combined with nitrates form Nitrosamines – Carcinogens that readily penetrate the skin. Guess you better wear gloves.
Safer All-Purpose Cleaning Products
Vital Oxide: All Purpose Biodegradable Cleaning Product
As recommended before to kill mold, and clean in general, all-purpose healthy cleaning agents can be made from soap, water, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice and borax. With a bit of elbow grease, these products will meet just about most of your household cleaning needs. Save time, money, and preserve your health.
Another tip: read the labels. They will use little word such as warning, danger, or hazardous to your health. If that has those types of warnings, don’t use it.
Reference:
“How Toxic Are Your Household Cleaning Supplies?” Organic Consumers Association
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_279.cfm
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