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Toxic Cleansing Products

The most dangerous place in your house may be under your kitchen sink. Thousands of children every year are poisoned by household cleansing products. Many adults are sickened by contact with some of these products without knowing the cause; and toxic cleaning products are a major source of indoor air pollution.

  1. Acute Dangers

    • Philip Dickey of the Washington Toxics Coalition says that the three most acutely dangerous classes of cleaning products are acid-based toilet bowl cleaners, oven cleaners and drain cleaners. Drain cleaners are powerful corrosives that can burn skin on contact and can fatally burn internal tissues throughout the gastrointestinal tract if swallowed. Oven cleaners, likewise, are made with powerful corrosive alkalis. Toilet bowl cleaners are not only dangerous because of acid burns, but when mixed with bleach products, acidic toilet cleaners also articulate a poisonous gas called chloramine. Mixing chlorine and ammonia products also produces chloramine.

    Chronic and Airborne Toxins

    • Chronic and airborne exposure to cleaning products is also a concern. You may have prohibited smoking indoors and ensured there is no longer any smoke from your wood stove, but cleaning products are also a significant source of indoor air pollution. Window cleaners with glycols depress the nervous system. Phenols in disinfectants enter the lungs and are toxic in your blood. Formaldehyde -- a suspected carcinogen -- is in many air fresheners. Some floor cleaners can damage mucus membranes. Spot remover fumes can damage your kidneys and liver.

    Read the Labels

    • The most common toxins in household cleaning products are well known. These ingredients are posted on the labels of cleaning products. By reading the labels and excluding products that contain these ingredients, you can make your house a much safer place for you and your children. The main toxic materials in cleaning products are ammonia, ammonia hydroxide, bleach, chlorine, formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid, lye, naptha, nitrobenzene, perchlorehylene, phenol, propylene glycol, sodium hypochlorite, sodium laurel sulfate, sodium tripolyphosphate and trichloroethane.

    Down the Drain

    • Many commercial detergents contain alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). When these go down the drain and into sewers, they persist in waterways and have toxic effects on aquatic life. In 2002, the United States Geological Survey Service tested stream water across the United States and found that 69 percent of streams were contaminated with APEs. APEs are hormone disruptors that can affect human endocrine systems when consumed. APEs are also found in disinfectants, stain removers and de-greasers.

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