Household Cleaning Products: What the Labels Don’t Tell You (Because They Don’t Have To)

Can you guess which of the following sentences is true?

• Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors.
• Indoor air is 2 to 5 times more contaminated than outdoor air
• Commercial cleaning companies are not legally required to provide a list of ingredients on their product labels.

The answer?

All of them are true.

We spend 90 percent of our time indoors, where we are exposed to 2 to 5 times more pollutants than we are outdoors.

In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, household cleaners are a major source of indoor air contamination.

That is, the very products that are supposed to be removing bacteria and toxins from our home are actually polluting it.

This is one of the dirty little secrets the household cleaning products market is hiding from consumers like you and me.

See for yourself…

The next time you go grocery shopping, take a stroll down the cleaning supply aisle. Grab a bottle of Windex, Lysol, or any surface disinfectant.

Take a look at the label. The product you’re holding likely contains a large list of reproductive toxins, allergens, hormone disruptors, and carcinogens.

And although exposure to these toxins can be fatal, most commercial cleaning brands do NOT provide a list of potential health risks…

In fact, most of these brands don’t even provide a full ingredient list.

And the worst part is: they’re allowed to be doing this.

Toxins Under Your Kitchen Sink

Chemical cleaning products have become a staple in American households. Look under any kitchen sink, and you’ll likely come across a bottle labeled Clorox, Windex, Lysol, Pledge, Comet…the list goes on.

And why not? These products are inexpensive, convenient, and seemingly effective…

They’re tried-and-true brands that have been around for decades.

But how much do we actually know about these products?

Well, most of us only know as much as the label tells us – which isn’t much.

And yet, nearly every chemical cleaning product currently on the market contains chemicals that are dangerously toxic to humans and animals.

These toxins can lead to health risks, including:

Headache, backache, stiff joints, nausea, diarrhea, asthma or allergy attacks, dizziness, blindness, memory loss, developmental delay in children, pregnancy complications, birth defects, cancer…

But you won’t find any of these on the warning label.

Why?

Well, to put it simply – because they don’t have to.

Commercial cleaning companies are under no legal obligation to test or disclose how their products may affect your health.

Because chemical cleaning products aren’t intended to be consumed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does NOT require these companies to provide a list of ingredients – only the ingredients that may be “potentially harmful.”

So what are they hiding?

According to author and eco-advocate Sloan Barnett, it’s not a top-secret formula these companies are trying to protect.

In her book Green Goes With Everything, Barnett speculates that commercial cleaning companies are actively attempting to hide just how toxic their products really are.

Here is an excerpt from her book:

“Call me suspicious, but I honestly don’t think it’s because the recipe is top secret. If it was, there wouldn’t be so many competing products with identical ingredients.

Don’t look to the government for help on this one. The government only requires companies to list ‘chemicals of known concern’ on their labels. The keyword here is ‘known.’ The fact is that the government has no idea whether most of the chemicals used in everyday cleaning products are safe because it doesn’t test them, and it doesn’t require manufacturers to test them either.”

In other words, not even the government knows the extent of how harmful these products are… because they don’t have to.

Even worse, it’s been proven that these products actually DO contain chemical toxins that are harmful to our health… and we are exposed to them every day.

Read that again. The products that we purchase to keep our homes clean are actually extremely dangerous to our health.

So what should we look out for?

There are far too many to list here…

In fact, there are more than 84,000 chemicals in existence for commercial use – with 1,000 new chemicals being developed every year.

Here are just a few of the major toxins found in most commercial cleaning products:

Formaldehyde

Found in: household cleaners; disinfectants; air fresheners

Health risks: carcinogenic (cancer-causing); toxic; skin irritation; respiratory irritation; may cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, and shortness of breath.

Ammonia

Found in: glass and window cleaners; all-purpose cleaners; toilet bowl cleaners; oven cleaners; drain openers

Health risks: respiratory issues (especially for people with asthma)

Chlorine

Found in: toilet bowl cleaners; bleach, scouring powders; mildew removers

Potential risks: respiratory irritant

Sodium Hydroxide

Found in: oven cleaners; drain openers

Potential risks: sore throat, burns skin and eyes (can cause blindness)

Phthalate

Found in: air fresheners; dish soap

Potential risks: endocrine (hormone) disruptors

As you can see, these toxic ingredients are more common than you might think. They’re in almost every commercial cleaning product, and their side effects can be deadly.

But most product labels don’t explain this.

Instead they use “signal words” to warn consumers of potential health risks. These words are extremely vague and usually don’t come with any explanation.

So how do we decode these signal words?

Because we can’t rely on product labels to tell us the full truth, it’s important for us as consumers to stay informed.

Here is a reference guide for decoding the signal words on the back of your cleaning product:

What it says: CAUTION

What it means: One ounce to one pint may be harmful or fatal if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed.

What it says: WARNING

What it means: One teaspoon to one ounce may be harmful or fatal if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed.

What it says: DANGER

What it means: One taste to one teaspoon is fatal if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed.

As you can see, even a taste of certain cleaning products is enough to kill you.

And as long as consumers continue to purchase their products, these ingredient lists aren’t likely to change any time soon… especially since these companies technically aren’t breaking any laws.

Luckily, there are a few steps you can take when choosing cleaning products for your home…

And it starts with choosing safe ingredients that are not harmful to your health.

Here are some important guidelines to keep in mind…

CHOOSE products that are:

• labeled with a full list of ingredients
• free of toxic chemicals
• made from plant- and mineral-based ingredients
• biodegradable and with low health hazards

AVOID products that are:

• labeled as flammable or corrosive
• tested on animals
• full of hard-to-pronounce toxic chemicals
• not labeled with any ingredients at all

In general, keep this rule in mind: if you can’t pronounce it, you shouldn’t use it.

With all of the toxic ingredients on the market, it’s crucial that you do your research before exposing yourself and your family to potential harmful products.

Your health depends on it.

Sources:

http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/content/cleaners_and_health

https://www.aromatherapynaturals.com/pages/dangers-of-chemical-cleaners

http://www.greencleancertified.com/green-cleaning-facts/HOUSEHOLD-CLEANING-PRODUCTS-MAY-DO-MORE-HARM-THAN-GOOD

http://www.gourmetretailer.com/article-down_and_dirty_-7489.html

http://www.safegreencleaners.com/cleaningproductfacts.html

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toxic-ingredients-cleaning-products/

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(13)70278-3/abstract

http://www.womensvoices.org/safe-cleaning-products/basic/

https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/how-toxic-are-your-household-cleaning-supplies

https://www.downtoearth.org/articles/2009-03/34/harsh-reality-household-cleaners

https://cfpub.epa.gov/roe/chapter/air/indoorair.cfm

https://books.google.com/books?id=4IjLnT4B5scC&lpg=PP1&dq=inauthor%3A%22Sloan%20Barnett%22&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/indoor/indoor-air-pollutants/cleaning-supplies-household-chem.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

http://www.environmentallyawesome.com/50/cleaning-day/