Environment: Exactly How Toxic Are Household Cleaners?

The amount of natural cleaners sold in supermarkets is increasing. There is a reason why name brand cleaners are switching to natural cleaners. The amount of toxic household cleaners is unreal.

The number of Natural Cleaners sold in supermarkets these days is increasing. Do you wonder why natural cleaners are outselling name brands? Is there something we are not being told about all those commercial household cleaners that accumulate under the kitchen sink?

According to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (2007), "The average American uses 25 gallons of toxic and hazardous chemicals in their home per year. Of the 17,000 chemicals found in household cleaners, only 3 out of 10 have been tested for their effects on human health." (MDEQ, 2007).

Many cleaners contain petroleum based products, which are slow to breakdown in the environment, non-renewable and can contaminate our air and water. Of these chemicals, many are flushed down system and make their way through our sewers to our creeks, rivers, and ultimately our ocean. According to the EPA (1995), "the air we breathe inside our homes could be as much as 5 times more polluted than the air we breathe outside." (EPA 1995).

Exactly what type of chemicals are we using in our home? Commercial spot cleaners can be loaded with carcinogenic ingredients, neurotoxins, central nervous system depressants, and all of these are considered hazardous waste. Sodium Fluosilicate, Na2SiF6 (A poisonous, white, amorphous powder; slightly soluble in water, and used to fluoridate drinking water and to kill rodents and insects) is commonly used in some commercial laundry detergents. Furniture Polishes can contain neurotoxins and other hazards to the environment. A close investigation in household cleaners, commercial oven cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners and metal polishes reveals a vast amount of chemicals that are used as pesticides and even fuel. The more one comes in contact with these toxic cleaners the more one is at risk. Is it any wonder that "occupational dermatitis" is the foremost source of work-related disease?

According to the information in the Encyclopedia of Medicine (2007), Americans spend as much as $300 million a year in their quest for treatments for contact dermatitis. Florists, domestic workers, hairdressers, food preparers, janitors, and employees in industrial, construction, and health care are the people most at risk of contracting work-related contact dermatitis.

Common cleaning products could be more dangerous than germs are. Often we forget that our largest body organ, our skin, absorbs everything it contacts.

Chemicals that you are exposed to can be detected within a minute in all organs of the body. Many "cleaners" release their toxins as fumes which you then breathe in. Mothers that breast-feed should be very cautious around household cleaners since many chemicals, like chlorinated products, can form orgono-chloride compounds that accumulate in fat cells and end up in breast milk. Ask any parent how much contact a baby has with the rugs and floors in their home/day-care area, then consider the chemicals found in rug cleaners and spot removers on those same floors, and an awareness warranting caution emerges. We need to make our homes safe and eliminate all of the toxins we use in it.

The good news is that the public is becoming more aware of the toxic chemicals in commercial cleaners, and many consumers are switching to all-natural, non-toxic products.

The alternatives to harsh chemicals are finding their way onto the shelves of our supermarkets, and the consumer now has a choice between harsh commercial cleaners and these alternative products. The cost is usually less than the toxic cleaners on the shelves of super markets. The natural products usually cost less than commercial cleaners, so you are not only saving money, but protecting the environment, netting an A plus in personal health management, and gaining the sure knowledge that your home is free of toxins released by commercial cleaners.

If you would like to learn more about the chemicals in laundry soap and cleaners currently used in your home, simply go online and do a search about the products you currently use.

You can visit Pro Earth Products for a free sample of their cleaner.

©Copyright 2007 by AlternativeApproaches.com