by Jennifer on February 7, 2010
There’s a lot to be said for using greener cleaning products. Conventional cleaners come with a slew of issues ranging from health concerns, to home and planet pollution, to death. Following are ten problems and hazards of conventional cleaners to consider.
1) We really have no clue what’s in most cleaners or what the full negative effects of said cleaners may be…
- About 3 decades ago Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TCSA) but to date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tested only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds developed for all sorts of products used in the home; cleaners included.
- The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has found that one-third of the substances used in the fragrance industry are toxic which includes those fragrances found in air fresheners. However, chemical formulas of fragrances are considered trade secrets, so companies don’t have to list fragrance ingredients on labels of products, they only need to label them as containing “fragrance.”
2) Conventional cleaners are not well tested or regulated for safety…
- Neither cleaning product manufacturers or the EPA have to prove a chemical’s safety as a condition of use in the home. Safe or not, any old cleaner can be sold on the market. The funny part is you’d think they’d try harder since the EPA also notes that the following conventional cleaning products should be of concern when it comes to your child’s health; bath and kitchen disinfectants and sanitizers, including bleach, household cleaning or maintenance products, such as drain cleaner, paints, or glues, automotive products stored around the home, such as anti-freeze or windshield washer fluid, products used to kill mold or mildew.
- The National Research Council notes, “Less than 20% of chemicals in every-day use products have been tested for acute effects and less than 10% have been tested for chronic, reproductive or mutagenic effects.“
3) Conventional cleaners affect your health & safety… Keep on reading this post!
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by Jennifer on January 28, 2010
I’m what you might call fairly germ obsessive, but probably not in the way you think. My aunt probably is a little germ obsessive in the way you might think – she ALWAYS uses those paper toilet seat covers, never drinks off other people’s drinks, and loves her anti-bacterial hand wash and bleach cleaners. Actually this is likely not germ obsessive now that I think about it. I’d say it’s normal for Americans. Here in America we buy untold amounts of dangerious cleaners each year along with mountains of sanitizing products and paper towels all meant to do one thing – protect us from germs.
I’m germ obsessive in an opposite way from most people. Germs fascinate me because of how they’ve captured everyone’s attention. Germs astound me because people are so freaked out by such a little organism. Most of all though germs make me laugh because although people must know that germs are everywhere, that they touch us all, that we absolutely cannot win a war waged with germs, still many people try.
It’s not like I don’t take basic germ precautions. I wash my hands and make my son wash his. I wash food well (even organic) and use a tissue when I have a cold. That said I also don’t condone anti-bacterial products or bleach and other harsh cleaners. I use cloths not paper towels to clean with. I guess you might say I have a lackadaisical approach to germs – yeah I know they’re there. Yes I know some can be very dangerious. But overall, I ignore them because I know they outnumber me. Why bother fighting to the max?
My lack of issue with germs started when I took Microbiology for health sciences in college. We swabbed for germs and other icky stuff on ‘clean’ cafeteria trays, money, library books and a slew of other seemingly harmless everyday objects and guess what – everything, and I do mean everything had some sort of icky germ on it. After seeing that germs are always with us the two positions available were freak and become a total germ-a-phobe or take basic precautions and try not to worry. I choose the second stance obviously.
Why bring it up? Keep on reading this post!
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