Chapter 3

Which type of products? Which chemicals?

Chemicals that can cause death, cancer, central nervous system (CNS) disorders, learning disorders, birth defects, respiratory illness, chronic skin conditions and many other health problems appear in most of the cleaning and personal care products in your home. It may be difficult, however, to tell which health risks a particular type of product poses. Since manufacturers do not list long-term health effects on the package, and are not required to list the ingredients, it’s impossible to learn all the health risks by reading the label.

That’s why I have provided a list of product types and example comments about possible health risks below. You can find a full list by following the links to the Purdue University website about hazardous products where you can also take a tour of a virtual house to find out what hazardous chemicals may be in your home. Of course, every product is different. Even the same product’s ingredients can vary from batch to batch depending on the cost and availability of certain chemicals. The following lists of cleaning supplies and personal care products are by no means exhaustive. The possible health effects do not apply to every single brand. However, based on examination of many brands sold in supermarkets, chemicals in the following types of products have been linked with the listed health problems:

Household Cleaning Products

Here is an example of the information about each type of product. Just click on the links to access more detailed information.

DISINFECTANTS
HAZARDOUS CONSTITUENT	POSSIBLE EFFECTS
AMMONIA	Fumes irritate eyes and lungs; can cause burns or rashes on skin; can produce deadly chloramine gas if mixed with chlorine containing products
DETERGENTS	Toxic and poisonous to ingest, causing nausea and in extreme cases - coma
CRESOL	Corrosive to tissue, damages liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas and spleen
LYE	Caustic product that burns skin, can cause blindness
PHENOL	Central nervous system depression; severely affect circulatory system; corrosive to skin; suspected carcinogen
PINE OIL	Irritates eyes and mucous membranes
Disinfectants are considered pesticides. They reduce some germs and are a temporary measure at best for making your home "germ free." Skin contact and vapors can be irritating and corrosive to the respiratory system and skin. Disinfectants are especially hazardous when dispersed from aerosol cans because the disinfectant can be easily ingested through the nose and mouth. Disinfectants may contain one or more of the following hazardous substances: ammonia, cationic detergents, cresol, lye, phenol, pine oil. Please refer to these compounds for specific health hazards associated with these ingredients.

And here are some of the other types of cleaning product that you probably already have in your kitchen that can contain hazardous chemicals. Click on each one for more details.

AEROSOLS ALL PURPOSE CLEANER ALUMINIUM CLEANER AIR FRESHENER ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE BLEACH CARPET CLEANER DETERGENT

DISINFECTANT DRAIN CLEANER FLOOR CLEANER FURNITURE CLEANER FURNITURE POLISH OVEN CLEANERS SPOT REMOVER SCOURING POWDER WINDOW/GLASS CLEANER

Bathroom and Personal Care Products

Here are products you will probably find in your bathroom or bedroom. Just click on each one to visit our website for full details.

AEROSOLS DISINFECTANT DRAIN CLEANER FLOOR CLEANER HAIR COLOUR HAIR PERMANENT HAIR SPRAY HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

NAIL POLISH REMOVER PHARMACEUTICALS SCOURING POWDER TOILET CLEANER WINDOW/GLASS CLEANER ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL MILDEW REMOVER NAIL POLISH

And here is what some experts believe may be the risks associated with commonly used personal care products:-

• Shampoo - may cause cancer; irritates eyes, skin and lungs.
• Dandruff shampoo - may cause cancer; causes organ degeneration; causes CNS disorders.
• Deodorant soap - may cause cancer; causes asthma; irritates lungs.
• Bubble bath - causes bladder and kidney infections; irritates skin and nose.
• Mousse and hair spray - may cause cancer; causes lung disease; irritates eyes and skin.
• Mouthwash - toxic to children; may cause cancer.
• Breath Spray - may cause cancer.
• Cosmetics - may cause cancer; causes CNS damage; irritates skin and lungs.
• Perfume/Cologne - toxic; may cause cancer; irritates skin and lungs.

One common ingredient

It would take a second book to cover all the ingredients commonly used in the products above, I want to let you know about one, formaldehyde, as an example. Formaldehyde is used frequently in both cleaning and personal care products because it is a cheap preservative.

The following information is taken from a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which, by law, must be supplied to anyone who uses any chemical product in the workplace. The MSDS for formaldehyde warns: “Suspected carcinogen; May be fatal if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through skin; Causes burns; Inhalation can cause spasms, oedema (fluid build-up) of the larynx and bronchi, and chemical pneumonitis; Extremely destructive to tissue of the mucous membrane.”

All these symptoms and more are caused by formaldehyde.

Yet manufacturers can put formaldehyde in shampoo and not list it as an ingredient! You will be shocked to learn that formaldehyde is a common ingredient in baby shampoo, bubble bath, deodorants, perfume, cologne, hair dye, mouthwash, toothpaste, hair spray, and many other personal care items.

Before I go any further, I want to state that the amount of formaldehyde in many of these products is slight. Brushing your teeth every day probably will not give you cancer, but the risk is still there. After all, formaldehyde is still a suspected carcinogen, and if all cancers start from the abnormal growth of one cell, then why allow any amount into or onto your body?

Beware of Aerosols

Many cleaning and personal care products come in aerosol cans.

I want to warn you of the dangers of aerosols in your home. First, they send a fine mist of toxic chemicals into the air that is easily inhaled and absorbed. Second, this fine mist settles, leaving a coating of toxins on surfaces where children crawl and play and adults eat and sleep. Finally, many of the propellants used in aerosol cans are toxic themselves. Vinyl chloride, one of the most common, can cause dizziness, lack of coordination, headaches, blurred vision, nausea, and death.

When you weigh the short-term and long-term harms of aerosol products, I think the smart conclusion is simply to get rid of them. Instead, use pump-action dispensers which do not have to contain dangerous propellants and also produce larger droplets which are less likely to spread around your home to places where they should not be.

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