Many cleaning items or household products can irritate the eyes or throat, or cause headaches and other health problems. Some products release hazardous chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are chemicals that vaporize at room temperature. Even natural fragrances, such as citrus, can react and produce dangerous indoor contaminants.
Disinfectants, Deodorants, Surface Cleaners, and Toilet Cleaners. A growing number of studies have identified cleansers as a group at risk of adverse skin and respiratory health effects. The chemicals in cleaning products may be responsible for these effects. Currently, only limited information is available on irritating and health-hazardous chemicals found in cleaning products.
We presume that the chemicals in cleaning products are known to be hazardous to health that could have adverse effects on the health of the skin and respiratory tract. Sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda, is extremely harmful and corrosive to human tissues. Exposure to sodium hydroxide, which is commonly used in industrial cleaning, drain and oven cleaners, and in some soaps and detergents, can cause serious burns to a person's skin. When working with sodium hydroxide, inhaling the substance can irritate the mucous membranes of the nose, throat and respiratory tract.
Researchers have called for objective and more accurate estimates of occupational exposure to cleaning products to better understand their adverse effects. Percentage of cleaning products that have been labeled with corrosive (R34, R3), irritating (R36, R37, R3), harmful (R20, R21, R2), sensitizing (R4) and others (R41, R62, R63, R65, R66, R6 R) phrases in section 3 of the safety data sheets (SDS). Cleaning products marked as being used by at least 10 cleaning companies were included in the systematic analysis of the SDS. To help consumers understand the potential risks of cleaning products, AspenClean has compiled a list of some harmful ingredients found in cleaning products and their side effects.
Therefore, cleaners may be exposed to mixtures of substances hazardous to health during their cleaning activity. The letter sent by mail to the cleaning services was not available in Romansh or Italian, which excluded cleaning companies from the Romansh and Italian cantons of Switzerland. This list of cleaning products by commercial brand was drawn up after discussions with an association of cleaning professionals, a medium-sized cleaning company and a training center for cleaning professionals. In my opinion, cleaning products shouldn't come with warning symbols on the bottle, but most do.
This is probably one of the toxic ingredients most to avoid in cleaning products. As mentioned above, we estimate that our results include the products used by approximately 50% of Swiss cleaning workers. In total, 4 substances were included in the SDS of more than 10 products, 17 substances in the SDS of 5 to 10 products, 38 in the SDS of 2 to 4 products and 69 were mentioned only once in the SDS of the 105 cleaning products selected. The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of products that meet their Safer Choice requirements for cleaning and other needs.
Professional cleaning is a basic service occupation worldwide, and cleaning products are used daily in different environments, both indoors and outdoors. In many cases, traditional vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, and other cheap ingredients found in the pantry can clean as well or better than conventional or natural cleaning products bought in stores. Mother Nature Network researched some common natural cleaning products and found that a leading all-purpose cleaner performed worse in the EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning.
