Green Cleaners
By Chris Tilley
4. Use Green Cleaners
A lot of cleaning products can leave a real mess behind for Mother Nature. Petroleum-based cleaners with synthetic scents can also create indoor air pollution. Read the labels and try to choose cleaning products made from plant-based, non-toxic and biodegradable ingredients that won’t leave behind a toxic residue.
One of the most common question regarding cleaners is what is in them. That is a tough question to answer because of trade secrets and lots of chemicals have multiple names. Also some items listed such as scents are actually quite complex containing many possible chemicals. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has a household product database that is very useful in looking up what is in your cleaners. To further the research you can take the chemical names and look them up on Google, Wikipedia or ToxNet. Frankly this is a lot of work and it is just easier to make the switch to green cleaners.
A quick search on the household product database brought up the following number of results (The California in the search is because they have some laws that require reporting for cancer and reproductive systems) :
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- California Cancer 855
- Birth Defects 676
- Neurological 137
- California Reproductive 618
- Liver 1097
- Kidney 1056
- Nervous 1385
- Brain 861
- Trade Secret 450 (source1,source2)
One of the most devious of indoor air pollution is scents.(source) 95% of fragrances are man made from petroleum.(source). These scents have been linked to worsening symptoms with asthma and other respiratory conditions. (source) These fragrances are found in most products that have been made to smell ‘nice’. Searching for ‘Perfume oils (mixture)’ on ToxNet brought up the following chemicals amongst many others:
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- TOLUENE
- DIBUTYL PHTHALATE
- N-BUTYL ACETATE
- BENZONITRILE
- STANNIC CHLORIDE
The good news is that there are lots of alternatives out there. The bad news is not everything labeled as environmentally friendly is. Consumer Reports Eco Labels Center has an excellent site that will tell you if there is any meaning behind the label. They ask the questions:
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- How meaningful is the label?
- Is the label verified?
- Is the meaning of the label consistent?
- Are the label standards publicly available?
- Is information about the organization publicly available?
- Is the organization free from conflict of interest?
- Was the label developed with broad public and industry input?
There are also a number of homemade cleaners out there. Eco-Cycle has an excellent list of homemade cleaners. Personally I have tried the vinegar and water as a floor cleaner and found that it worked quite well and I didn’t have a headache at the end.
Finally these chemicals can end up in our water bodies. Some of these chemicals are not removed by treatments plants.(source) These can have an effect on the wildlife that lives there.(source)