September 6, 2018
Most people realize acidic household cleaning products like drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners and oven cleaners can cause burns on the skin or eyes, damage the esophagus if ingested, and irritate the lungs. They might even realize that mixing certain products together, such as ammonia and lye, or chlorine and acid, can create a toxic chlorine gas. What most people don’t realize is that the quality of the air in their homes can be adversely affected by products such as candles, soaps, fabric softeners, glass cleaners, wood polish, scented products, laundry detergents and bleach.
While everyone wants a clean and germ-free home, household cleaning products are contributing to indoor air pollution and accidental exposures that lead to thousands of emergency room visits each year; especially in children under seven years old. The long-term exposure to these highly toxic and poisonous substances can lead to chronic health conditions, including cancer.
Products That You Should Stop Using in Your Home:
· Bleach & Ammonia: Two Products you should stop using in your home include bleach and ammonia. On their own, they are highly abrasive to the eyes, nose, throat, skin and lungs, mixed together, they produce fumes that can cause lung damage and should never be used around children, pets and people with asthma or lung conditions.
· Fragrances: Everyone enjoys a house or car that smells fresh and clean which is a reason why companies add fragrances to their household cleaning products. These fragrances are commonly added to products such as dryer sheets, fabric softeners, shampoo, soap, laundry detergent and plug in air fresheners. While fragrances may cause your home to smell springtime fresh, they can also cause acute health related effects which include, headaches, lung irritation, sneezing, itchy noses, and watery eyes. Many of these fragrances can even be toxic, however, companies are not required to list the ingredients making it important to avoid all household products that contain fragrance.
· Foaming Products: Products that can create suds such as shampoo, soap, bubble bath, laundry detergent are often made with Ingredients such as dioxane, diethanolamine, triethanolamine and sodium laureth sulfate, which are are known carcinogens.
Besides being a household health hazard, have you ever considered what happens when we rinse these products down our sinks and drains? When these cleaners are used in sinks, bathtubs or showers, they go down the drain and off to our municipal water treatment facilities. Many of these products break down and become harmless while others threaten our environment, our water supply and wildlife. Products that don’t break down and are not biodegradable, have been found to contain substances which mimic the hormone estrogen which can affect the reproduction of fish which may not only threaten the survival of certain species of fish, but may also be linked to estrogen-sensitive breast cancer and other cancers.
What Can You Do?
· Look for organic, eco-friendly household cleaning products.
· Read the Labels! Even some products labeled as “natural” can contain harmful substances.
· Use plain old water and baking soda.
· Learn how to make your own cleaning products. There are a large number of tutorials on the internet.
· Hire an eco-friendly cleaning service like Reflections Extreme Clean.
At Reflections Extreme Clean, our green cleaning team pays special attention to the details of every project to ensure the complete satisfaction of each client. Our goal is to make sure that we leave your home in tip top shape so that when you walk in your door you can sit back and relax. Nothing like a nice comfy sofa to kick back those tired feet. Green Cleaning is a bio degradable, eco-friendly, odorless and toxic free way to clean your home. Safe for Children and Pets.
Reflections Extreme Clean LLC
248-295-1261
Email [email protected] or call for our current openings!
