RSS
Home
Cleaner Don’ts: Toxic combos and labeling hazards
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
BrittneyBush
One myth debunked in a report by the Women and Environment Organization (WAE) is that a clean-smell signifies an environment, a bath, or piece of clothing is clean -- and therefore safe. According to leading scientists, many of these popular smells are actually strong toxins that can affect fertility and fetal development. WAE wants consumers to know: Clean does not have a smell, clean is simply clean.
Products marketed for home use are not required to list toxins. "Manufacturers are only required to list (certain) ingredients in institutional and industrial cleaners," explains environmental scientist Carol Westinghouse.
Companies that sell less-toxic cleaning products often fully disclose ingredients on their labels. The Cleaning for Health program advises choosing home-use cleaners that are: plant or bio-based, not petroleum-based, biodegradable, pH neutral, packaged in recyclable, pump-spray bottles and not aerosol cans.
A toxic household cleaner-combo that has been the source of numerous household cleaning deaths, comes from mixing a bleach-based cleaner such as those now used for tile, in tandem with any ammonia-based cleaner such as those for toilets. Bleach and ammonia react to create fatal fumes known as chloramines. Other substances that produce toxic by-products when mixed with bleach include: hydrogen peroxide, acids such as vinegar and drain cleaner, insecticides, and oven cleaner.
General household cleaners with bleach or phthalates can irritate skin and lungs, interfere with liver function, affect the reproductive system or even cause some cancers.
The most widely used toxic cleaning ingredients include: sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, butyl cellosolve (2-butoxyethanol), formaldehyde, bleach (sodium hypochlorite), ammonia, sulfamic acid, petroleum distillates, sulfuric acid, lye (potassium hydroxide), and morpholine.
Recently, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics hired an independent lab to test bubble bath, baby lotion and other products intended for babies and children – purchased in cities across the U.S. – for 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde. Both chemicals are contaminants that do not appear on product labels, and both are carcinogenic; formaldehyde can also trigger rashes in those with sensitive skin.
A brand-by-brand database search for manufacturers, ingredients, and health effects, is available from The National Institutes of Health and Library of Medicine Household Products Database.
Legislation
On April 29, 2009, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the Safe Baby Products Act, which directs the Food and Drug Administration to investigate and regulate hazardous contaminants in personal care products marketed to or used by children. She introduced the bill in response to the "Toxic Tub" report.
So far only two states, New York and Illinois have passed laws requiring schools to use green cleaning products, while other states lag behind with regulations. Maine and Missouri both follow formal but voluntary guidelines.
Some states have green cleaning laws or executive orders that apply to state buildings.
Cancer
National Cancer Association released results of a 15-year study concluding that women who work in the home are at a 54% higher risk of developing cancer than women who work outside the home.
Primary suspects for the 26% increase in breast cancer since 1982, the number one killer of women between the ages of 35 and 54, are laundry detergents, household cleaners and pesticides.
Chemicals are disclosed on product labels because they are contaminants, not ingredients, and therefore are exempt from labeling laws.
The EPA and FDA have been widely attacked by scientists as well as watchdog groups for out-of-date regulations and labeling laws.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
