The Cleaning Blues

Articles

Aisha Ikramuddin
The Green Guide #53
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 26, 2008

In reality, all you need are a few mild cleaners to make for a spotless home. Safer cleaners can even be home-made!

The blues singer John Moody claims that his soul-wrenching husky voice resulted not from whiskey and cigarettes, but from accidentally swigging from a jug of chlorine bleach as a child. He’s not alone. Poison Control Center data show that over 20,000 children under age six were exposed to "poisonous" levels of chlorine bleach in 2005 alone. Another 10,000 were exposed to high levels of automatic dishwasher detergent, another 7,000 to glass cleaner, another 7,000 to laundry detergent, another 15,000 to tile cleaner, and on and on.

Other common cleaners can be more harmful. Corrosive or caustic cleaners, such as lye and acids – found in drain cleaners, oven cleaners and acid-based toilet bowl cleaners – are the most dangerous cleaning products because they burn skin, eyes and internal tissue easily, according to Phillip Dickey, director of Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC).

Even if you store chemical cleaners in secure cupboards, above the reach of children, simply using them may do harm. Many of them release toxic or irritating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. "My eight-month-old baby’s eyes tear up every time I clean my house; I have to do it when she’s not there," says Maritza Rios of New York City. While adults may not react to cleaning products, their fumes may affect infants and children because they haven’t fully developed the ability to remove toxins from their bodies.

Some cleaning ingredients, such as paradichlorobenzenes used in toilet fresheners and room deodorizers and formaldehyde used in disinfectants and furniture polishes, are possibly cancer-causing. Others, containing petroleum-based surfactants called alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), don’t biodegrade as easily as other surfactants and can disrupt hormone functions in animals and possibly humans. Dickey has found APEs in 477 products, and discovered that supermarket or drug store brand laundry detergents are more likely to contain APEs than brand names. In laboratory tests, three out of four non-chlorine disinfectants, as well as some "environmentally-friendly" cleaners, contained APEs.

Chemicals from different cleaning products can also react with each other to produce toxic effects. For example, mixing ammonia with chlorine bleach produces chloramine gas, which can penetrate deep into and damage lungs and even potentially cause death. Combining bleach with acid (in toilet bowl and other cleaners) forms toxic chlorine gas, which can also damage airways and irritate eyes.

Chemical cleaners pollute ecosystems as well as indoor air. For example,
phosphates, the water-softening mineral additives used in most dishwasher detergents, over-nutrify rivers and streams, causing algae to grow profusely. Overabundance of algae deprives fish of oxygen and results in declining populations.

Many cleaning ingredients are toxic to aquatic animals and fish.

Aerosol spray disinfectants and solvent-based spot removers contain VOCs, which pollute the air and contribute to smog.

Despite all this, manufacturers of cleaners are not required to list the ingredients and their concentrations on labels, even if hazardous, unless the product is a disinfectant. While some companies print warnings on bottles, these often do not express the full range of a product’s toxicity. So-called "inactive" or "inert" ingredients are not necessarily benign.

"Industry has done an incredibly good job of narrowing a product’s purpose, so that an average home may have 150 different products," say Wayne Tusa, president of New York City-based Environmental Risk and Loss Control, which conducts environmental risk assessments for homeowners.

In reality, all you need are just a few mild cleaners to make for a spotless home. Safer cleaners can even be home-made with lemon juice, baking soda, vinegar, borax, salt, olive oil and vegetable soaps. Whatever you choose, remember to keep cleaners out of the reach of children. Even less-toxic cleaners can pose a health risk when ingested.

For those who would rather purchase prepared cleaners and laundry detergents, safe and environmentally friendly brands are available in natural foods stores and by mail order.

Other resources:

The Household Products Database, produced by the National Institutes of Health, is an online database with brand and manufacturer information, health effects, storage/disposal information and an ingredient list for each product. It is searchable by product or ingredient.Clean and Green (Ceres press) and Better Basics for the Home (Three Rivers Press) by Annie Berthold-Bond Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan (Pocket Books) Safer Cleaning Products, Washington Toxics Coalition.

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