What You Should Know about Conventional Cleaners
Are you a label reader? Many of us inspect the ingredients in our food but forget that we can be just as harmed by the products we breathe or absorb through our skin.
Conventional cleaners are among the most toxic products found in the home. In 2000, cleaning products were responsible for nearly 10% of all toxic exposures reported to U.S. Poison Control Centers. Over half of these involved children under six, who can swallow or spill cleaners stored inside the home.
The most acutely dangerous cleaning products are corrosive drain cleaners, oven cleaners, and acidic toilet bowl cleaners. Ingredients with high acute toxicity include chlorine bleach and ammonia, which produce fumes that are highly irritating to eyes, nose, throat and lungs, and should not be used by people with asthma or lung or heart problems. These two chemicals pose an added threat in that they can react with each other or other chemicals to form lung-damaging gases.
Household cleaners are the leading contributors to indoor air pollution and contribute to pollution in our rivers and streams. Many household cleaners are loaded with synthetic fragrances and petroleum-distilled chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that vaporize into the air and cause skin and respiratory irritation, allergies, and asthma.
Petrochemicals are hard to avoid in cleaning agents and even earth-friendly alternatives tend to use them. Grease and oil are not water soluble. Removing grease and oil require solvents and surfactant which pull the dirt and oil from the surface and keep it off by spreading it throughout the water in tiny droplets. Soaps and detergents act as solvents and surfactants. Chemically soaps and detergents are similar but soaps are produced by mixing animal or vegetable fats and oils with a strong alkali. Detergents are made from petrochemicals, a cheaper substitute which became popular during WWII when the price of raw materials rose. “Plant-based or “Naturally-derived Sufactant” on the ingredients label means petrochemicals have been used. Some are more harmful than others but it is impossible to know the exact nature of the ingredient based on this label.
Petrochemicals have been found to be harmful to our health and our environment. Petrochemicals emit harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which trigger asthma and other respiratory problems, can mimic hormones in your body and can cause liver damage. In extreme cases, petrochemicals can cause cancer. Butyl cellosolve, also referred to as 2-butoxyethanol, is a petroleum-based solvent commonly used in window and spray cleaners that can damage your liver and your red blood cells.
Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), petroleum-derived surfactants used in detergents, can mimic the hormone estrogen and have shown up in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, APEs don’t biodegrade and end up in waterways where they’re absorbed by fish and harm the animals’ reproductive systems. In a May 2002 study of contaminants in stream water samples across the country, the U.S. Geological Survey found persistent detergent metabolites (APEs) in 69% of streams tested. APEs have been shown to mimic the hormone estrogen, and their presence in water may be harming the reproduction and survival of salmon and other fish. All of the above says nothing of the fact that petroleum is a non-renewable resource.
What can you do?
Cleaning products are not required to list their ingredients and so most, even the “environmentally friendly” ones do not. This becomes especially annoying when you realize that most environmental claims have no legal definition. “Biodegradable” means that it breaks down eventually. “Plant-based” or “plant-derived” means the ingredients started out as a plant but anything could have been done to it. “Nontoxic” means to company believes it to be so. Many “nontoxic” cleaners have toxic ingredients but in low enough doses they are believed to be safe. “Phosphate-free” is meaningful in dishwasher detergent but most states have outlawed the use of phosphates in other household detergents.
You are best off checking any warning labels which will give you a good indication as to the contents. Another option is to look for products which do list all ingredients or at least offer a listing of harmful substances which they don’t contain. The only way to avoid petrochemicals is to use a soap based product made of saponified oils like our organic aromatherapy household cleaners.
Ingredients to Avoid in Household Cleaners
Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), common in detergents and disinfectants, are suspected hormone disruptors.
Ammonia is poisonous when swallowed, extremely irritating to respiratory passages when inhaled and can burn the skin on contact.
Antibacterial cleansers containing triclosan—does not reduce the level of bacteria any better then soap, may be contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant germs. The European Union has classified triclosan as an irritant to the eyes and skin, dangerous for the environment, and very toxic to aquatic organisms. Its use in cosmetic is restricted in Japan and Canada.
Butyl cellosolve (aka butyl glycol, ethylene glycol monobutyl) is poisonous when swallowed and a lung-tissue irritant.
Chlorine bleach (aka sodium hypochlorite), an all-purpose whitening agent, can irritate the lungs and eyes and in waterways can become toxic organochlorines.
Diethanolamine (DEA) can combine with nitrosomes (often-undisclosed preservatives) to produce carcinogenic nitrosamines that penetrate skin.
Fragrance frequently contains phthalates, chemicals linked to reproductive abnormalities and liver cancer in lab animals and to asthma in children.
Phosphates soften water for detergents but contribute to algae blooms in our waterways, which can kill off fish populations.
Polyethylene Glycol (PEG): Carcinogenic petroleum used in spray-on oven cleansers to dissolve oil and grease.
Sodium hydroxide, found in drain, metal and oven cleaners, is extremely irritating to eyes, nose and throat and can burn those tissues on contact. The warning label on sodium hydroxide products reads “POISON. May be fatal or cause permanent damage if swallowed. May cause blindness. Avoid contact with skin, eyes, mouth and clothing.” The cosmetic industry is now putting it in your skin care products and oral care products.
Sodium lauryl sulfate, used in most detergent products that foam, a common skin irritant. Animals exposed to SLS experienced eye damage, depression, labored breathing, diarrhea, severe skin irritation and even death.
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