Sugar Land Texas Eco-Friendly Homes

Use Only Natural Cleaners in Your Home

A little over a year ago I became aware of the health risks involved with household cleaners:

Volatile chemicals in household cleaners become gaseous at room temperature or form microscopic particles when sprayed—causing lung damage and entering the bloodstream to effect other organs as well.

The propellant (methylene chloride a.k.a. dichloromethane) used in lots of aerosol products is a known carcinogen.

Some cleaning chemicals called neurotoxins can affect the nervous system, reducing emotional well-being, coordination, intelligence, and mental alertness.

Other cleaning chemicals, called reproductive toxins, such as teratogen can cause miscarriages, birth defects, pregnancy complications, sterility, and infertility.

Carpet cleaners have been linked to Kawasaki disease...but not conclusively.

The chemicals in our household cleaners are contaminating our indoor air so badly, along with other contaminants, that the EPA declares indoor air pollution as one of the nation's most pressing personal health concerns.

What's Wrong With Bleach?

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

"Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is a strong oxidizer...household bleach and pool chlorinator solutions are typically stabilized by a significant concentration of lye (caustic soda, NaOH) as part of the manufacturing reaction. Skin contact will produce caustic irritation or burns due to defatting and saponification of skin oils and destruction of tissue. The slippery feel of bleach on skin is due to this process.

Chlorination of drinking water can oxidize organic contaminants, producing trihalomethanes (also called haloforms), which are carcinogenic. The extent of the hazard thus created is a subject of disagreement.

Mixing bleach with some household cleaners can be hazardous. For example, mixing an acid cleaner with sodium hypochlorite bleach generates chlorine gas. Mixing with ammonia solutions (including urine) produces chloramines. Both chlorine gas and chloramine gas are toxic. Bleach can react violently with hydrogen peroxide and produce oxygen gas...

A number of commonly used household cleaning products (bleaches, mildew stain removers, toilet cleaners, cleaning sprays, gels, and scouring powders) contain sodium hypochlorite that is often accompanied by many other chemicals (e.g., surfactants and fragrances). Mixing bleach with ammonia-based cleaners results in formation of chloramines while mixing it with an acid-based cleaner will cause chlorine gas release. Therefore, the main concern associated with the use of chlorine-bleach-containing cleaning-products has been mixing them with other cleaning products that can generate hazardous fumes.

A recent study indicated for the first time that sodium hypochlorite and organic chemicals (e.g., surfactants, fragrances) contained in several household cleaning products react to generate chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These chlorinated compounds are emitted during cleaning applications and most of them are toxic and probable human carcinogens. The study showed that indoor air concentrations significantly increase (8-52 times for chloroform and 1-1170 times for carbon tetrachloride) during the use of bleach containing products. The increase in chlorinated volatile organic compound concentrations was the lowest for plain bleach and the highest for the products in the form of “thick liquid and gel.” The significant increases observed in indoor air concentrations of several chlorinated VOCs (especially carbon tetrachloride and chloroform) indicate that the household bleach use is a newly identified source that could be important in terms of inhalation exposure to these compounds. Preliminary risk assessment suggested that using these cleaning products may significantly increase the cancer risk. Further studies are also needed for a detailed investigation of the health risks associated with the use of these products and other possible exposure routes (i.e., dermal). However, these are not the only adverse environmental effects of the released VOCs, they are also ozone depleting compounds and powerful greenhouse gases."

When I found all this out, I threw out my highly hazardous household cleaners. At the time, I was getting sick every three or four months with an upper respiratory infection that would, sometimes, be severe enough to leave me without a voice. Based on my research I started putting it together...I got sick about three days after I did a major scrub down with Tilex in my bathroom. Even though I made sure the bathroom was well-ventilated during the scrub-down, I always got sick about three days later.

Of course, I never realized this until I started really thinking about my family's chemical exposures. I haven't used Tilex since AND I went almost two years before I had another upper-respiratory infection!

These days it is so easy to use non-toxic cleaners by either:

Buying all natural cleaners manufactured by "green" companies.

Making your own cleaners.

Here's what you need to make your own cleaners, all of which can be purchased at your local grocery store:

Borax (look in laundry detergents section)

Distilled white vinegar

Liquid soap/detergent (I love Sal's Suds by Dr. Bronners)

Tea tree oil

Other Housecleaning Tips

Wear protective gloves when cleaning—to prevent skin absorption of chemicals.

Wear a maintenance free respirator mask when cleaning with toxic cleaners, such as the 3M #8577 10PK Filter Respirator. A mask should also be used when sanding, painting, gluing, etc.

NOTE: Try to keep all painting, gluing, and other toxic hobby activities outdoors and ensure the fumes are not going inside the house.

Place boxes of baking soda around the house to absorb odors.

Air-out your house at the end of your cleaning day...or at least once a week for 10 minutes (unless you are lucky enough to have a fresh air exchanger).

Vacuum and dust as frequently as possible.

Keep the humidity in your home below 50 if possible.

Never leave food scraps in the garbage, sink, or counter tops.

More Interesting Stuff

"Chlorine Gas Is Used in Chemical Warfare—Why Pollute Your Indoor Air With Cleaning Products?"

Use Only Natural Cleaners in Your Home

What's Wrong With Bleach?

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Other Housecleaning Tips

More Interesting Stuff