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from Natural Life magazine,
January/February 2009
Ask Natural Life
What's the Dirt on Household Cleaners?
by Wendy Priesnitz
 Q: Which household cleaning products for
sale in the supermarket are green?
A: Actually, making your own is greener,
cheaper and healthier...and not difficult! A leading laundry soap has more than
400 ingredients, but in North America, the manufacturer can call them a “trade
secret” and doesn’t have to list them on the box. (In Europe, manufacturers must
tell you if a product contains a carcinogen or other harmful ingredient.) If a
manufacturer won’t tell you what’s in the product, why should you trust it to be
safe to clean the bathtub in which you bathe your children, the clothes that
your family wears or the dishes on which you eat your food? These products
contain some exceedingly nasty ingredients and they’re tested by the
manufacturers, not the government, prior to being unleashed into our homes.
As with the antibacterial soaps, cosmetics and air cleaners
we’ve discussed in this column in the past, there are known health effects from
many of the chemicals commonly used in household cleaning and laundry products.
Animal studies have shown reproductive harm – testicular damage, reduced
fertility, maternal toxicity, early embryonic death and birth defects. Some of
the ingredients are proven carcinogens.
Glass cleaners and laundry detergents commonly contain
phthalates, which are used as carriers for fragrance. Phthalates have been
linked to increased allergic symptoms and asthma in children; some phthalates
are also known endocrine disruptors and have been linked to birth defects.
Many glass cleaners and all-purpose spray cleaners also
contain glycol ethers, such as 2-butoxyethanol. These solvents have been
associated with low birth weight in exposed mice.
Alkyl phenol ethoxylates (APEs) and nonylphenol ethoxylates
(NPEs) are surfactants found in laundry detergents, stain removers and
all-purpose cleaners. They have been shown to reduce embryo survival in fish and
to alter tadpole development.
Monoethanolamine (MEA), a surfactant found in some laundry
detergents, all-purpose cleaners and floor cleaners, is a known inducer of
occupational asthma. Disinfectants called ammonium quaternary compounds, found
in both sprays and toilet cleaners, have also been identified as inducers of
occupational asthma. A number of studies published in the medical journal Thorax
over the past decade have linked regular exposure to cleaning chemicals to
asthma, both in school children and in professional cleaners.
Some carpet and upholstery shampoos include perchlorethylene,
which is a known carcinogen that damages the liver, kidney and nervous system.
Another common ingredient is ammonium hydroxide, which is corrosive and
extremely irritable to eyes, skin and respiratory passages.
Children,
the elderly and those with already compromised immune systems are more
vulnerable to the harmful effects of chemicals in personal care and household
products.
Oven cleaners are among the most dangerous chemical cleaners.
They typically contain sodium hydroxide (a derivative of lye), which is so
corrosive it cause severe skin damage. They also contain benzene, toluene,
xylene, methanol and ethylbenzene, which are all known carcinogens and damaging
to the nervous system and unborn children. What’s worse is that the residue from
these cleaners hangs around, releasing toxic fumes into the air and food when
the oven is heated.
Most drain cleaners contain lye, hydrochloric acid or
trichloroethane. Hydrochloric acid is corrosive, an eye and skin irritant, and
damages kidneys, liver and the digestive tract. Trichloroethane is a nervous
system depressant that has been proven to damage the liver and kidneys.
Furniture polish often contains petroleum distillate, which can
cause skin and lung cancer, as well as other nasty ingredients. And so the story
goes, on through each product designed to clean each part of your home.
In previous articles in Natural Life Magazine,
we’ve seen that children, the elderly and those with already compromised immune
systems are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of chemicals in personal care
and household products. However, we also need to be aware of the cumulative
impacts from all of the chemicals in our lives, because we aren’t exposed to
cleaning products, air fresheners, perfume, cosmetics, textile treatments,
pesticides in food, outdoor air pollution like car exhaust and so on in
isolation. We really have no idea what all these chemicals do in combination
with each other!
That’s why it’s important to take precautions whenever we can
and avoid whatever chemicals we can. Fortunately, that’s easy when it comes to
cleaning our homes.
First of all, we could consider lowering our standards so that
our whites don’t have to be so white and our homes can be a little less than
hospital clean. Our immune systems can usually handle that and, in fact, would
probably benefit. Another change we could make is to slow down a bit. One of the
standards for commercial cleaning products is the speed at which they cut grease
and remove stains; substituting a little more time and elbow grease for those
heavy duty chemicals and your family will be healthier.
And that brings us to making our own cleaners using common (and
benign) household ingredients. In many cases, they clean just as well as the
commercial products, are much less expensive, are healthier and don’t pollute
the environment.
A group called Women’s Voices for the Earth has come up with the
idea of Green Cleaning Parties, which have been tagged as 21st century
Tupperware parties where you BYOJ (bring your own jars). A group of people get
together to whip up a batch of home-made household cleaners using ingredients
like vinegar, water, baking soda, castile soap, and glycerin. Then they split up
the batch and take them home in their own glass jars.
If you want to use commercial products, choose only those that
list their ingredients on their labels (keeping in mind that there is no
requirement for this and that the list could be incomplete). Greenwashing is
rampant in this industry. That is where companies try to make themselves look
good by claiming to be healthy and green, but actually are not. So don’t be
caught off-guard by green labels with the words “natural,” “eco” or “pure”
because those words are meaningless if not backed up with an ingredient list.
You should even be suspicious of the term “organic” if it’s not backed up by a
certification program. And it goes without saying that you should avoid
explosive or poisonous symbols on the label, which means there is probably at
least one chemical in the product. Another indication of the presence of
chemicals is a warning to use the product in a well-ventilated area.
Although manufacturers and distributors are not legally required
to tell consumers what’s in cleaning products in North America, they must
provide information about chemicals used in the workplace. This is done via a
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). You can often find out what’s in your
favorite product by typing “MSDS” plus your favorite product’s name into an
Internet search engine.
You can at least partially avoid harm from chemical ingredients
by streamlining your cleaning cupboard. Use fewer products, and less of them.
You do not need a different product for every room in your house, so choose one
or two and you’ll find they clean things they might not be sold to clean.
Whether you make your own or demand that companies make safe
products, getting rid of that cleaning pail of toxic waste is healthy for your
family and the environment. And that’s a small price to pay.
Wendy Priesnitz is Natural Life's Editor. This article is an
update to one first published in Natural Life magazine in 1981 and based on
reader input. We welcome your green and healthy home cleaning tips for inclusion
in future updates. More information on this topic is available in Natural Life Magazine's new
Green & Healthy Homes book.
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