Last Updated on Monday, 6 February 2012 04:37 Posted by Home Cure Friday, 3 February 2012 02:31

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By Stephanie Mitchell

When you buy dish detergent, surface cleaners or bathroom disinfectants, do you know what chemicals you are bringing into your home?  Many of the household cleaners that people have been using for years contain toxic, corrosive chemicals that can cause asthma, brain damage, birth defects and cancer, if you’re exposed to them long enough.

Arm yourself with information about the substances you wipe across your kitchen counters or spray onto your carpets – then choose your purchases with care.

Carcinogens
Household cleaning products end up in the air, on your dishes and silverware, and on the counters you and your children touch every day – and you can absorb carcinogens, which cause cancer, by breathing them in, touching them or consuming them.

Carcinogenic cleaning products include air fresheners containing formaldehyde, laundry detergents containing ethoxylated nonyl phenol, and aerosol products containing methylene chloride, and many other common chemicals are currently being tested for carcinogenic effects.

Corrosives and Solvents
Corrosive and solvent chemicals make effective cleaning agents because they dissolve  and burn through grease, mildew and grime. They also irritate and burn your skin, eyes, lungs, kidneys and liver, and they can harm your central nervous system.

Breathing in corrosive chemicals can cause dizziness and headaches in the short term; in the long term, they can lead to blindness, depression, memory loss and poor coordination. Children are particularly sensitive to corrosives and solvents – repeated exposure can damage children’s respiratory systems and cause asthma.

Examples include sodium hydroxide, often found in oven cleaners; morpholine, found in scrubbing cleaners and furniture polishes; phosphoric acid, found in bathroom cleaners, dishwashing liquids and mildew removers; ammonia, found in bathroom cleaners and spray cleaners; and sodium hypochlorite, better known as bleach.

Safety
While some of these chemicals cause immediate irritation or pain, others take their toll quietly, over time. Protect yourself and your family by learning all you can about the products on the market and choosing the ones least likely to jeopardize your health. Pregnant women and parents of young children should be particularly cautious. Consider buying only non-toxic, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, which are generally safer for you and your children.

 

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REFERENCES

• Kewaunee County Emergency Management & LEPC: Solvents & Home Cleaning Products – http://www.kewauneeco.org/lepc/Hazardous%20Waste/solvent.htm.
• National Library of Medicine Tox Town: Solvents – http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=28.
• University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences: Hazardous Household Substances: Alternatives That Are Relatively Free of Toxic Effects – http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/he791.
• Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia: Guide to Less Toxic Products – http://lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?fetch=household.
• GreenLiving: Is Your House Toxic? – http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/six-household-chemicals-avoid.

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