cleaning products that deal with food, grease and oily residue, such as dishwashing and laundry products. Detergents contain other components such as surfactants, enzymes, acids, caustics, bleaching agents and optical brighteners. These components all have their part to play in dislodging dirt and grease from surfaces and fabrics around your home.
Can detergents harm me?
The human body contains many sensitive mucous membranes located in the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs. These require a delicate balance between water content and other bodily fluids such as sebum. If any of these mucous membranes comes into contact with detergents, this delicate balance can be disrupted. The moisture-retaining sebum is oily, and can be attacked by detergents because they are designed to dissolve oil. Once this happens, tissues can lose their natural elasticity and become easily torn or ruptured. You might notice that your skin is dry or irritated after using certain products, but for some people the outcome can be more serious and result in dermatitis or eczema.
It is easy to protect your hands, with gloves. However, many modern cleaning products come in spray bottles or require dilution in hot water. This leads to chemicals being sprayed in the air or being transmitted in hot, steamy fumes which can be inhaled into the lungs or reach the eyes and mucous membranes.
Formaldehyde
Which products contain formaldehyde?
Formaldehyde is used in a wide variety of products found in our homes. It’s a chemical used as a binder and preservative in literally hundreds of household products, including paper products like toilet rolls, sanitary protection, tissues and building materials. Additionally, formaldehyde is added as a disinfectant to some cleaners as it kills most bacteria and fungi.
Can formaldehyde harm me?
Formaldehyde resin is used in many construction materials which makes it one of the more common indoor air pollutants. It has been shown to irritate the eyes, throat, skin and lungs, cause nausea, nosebleeds, insomnia, headaches, coughing, wheezing, and can trigger asthma attacks, lower immunity, and cause fatigue and skin rashes. Formaldehyde is classified as a probable human carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that there is ‘sufficient evidence’ that occupational exposure to formaldehyde causes nasopharyngeal cancer in humans (the upper part of the throat, behind the nose). This type of cancer spreads widely and produces few symptoms early, which means that most cases are quite advanced when detected.
Does formaldehyde harm the environment?
Formaldehyde is one of the large family of chemical compounds called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which you’ll learn more about in the following chapters. Levels of formaldehyde emitted from products increase with temperature and humidity, so bear this in mind if you use a disinfectant or floor cleaner containing formaldehyde that you add to a bucket of hot water.
Fragrance
Which products contain fragrance?
Nearly every cleaning product is scented. Most fragrances or ‘parfums’ are made from a cocktail of petrochemicals. Several thousand different chemicals can make up one fragrance and manufacturers do not have to disclose what ingredients they use.
Can fragrances harm me?
If you react badly to the smell of a product, then listen to the warning your body is giving you! If you find yourself with itchy eyes or a tickly throat as you walk down the cleaning aisle of your supermarket, then maybe you’ll begin to understand how some of these products are affecting your health. Inhalation of fragranced products can cause immediate symptoms such as sneezing, itchy eyes, headaches, nausea and wheezing. More chronic symptoms from exposure to artificial fragrances include asthma, multiple chemical sensitivity, lethargy and short-term memory loss.
How else can I be affected by fragrances?
Fragrances don’t just enter your body through the nose.
They are also absorbed through the skin. Two products that are notorious for causing skin irritation are laundry detergents and fabric conditioners (softeners). Both are highly scented and residues of the chemicals used to make the fragrance are against your skin all day in the clothes you wear.
Fragrances serve no useful purpose in a product in that they do not make them more effective. They are there to ‘brand’ a product and cover up some of the terrible smells of the raw ingredients. Fragrances are designed to linger – on your clothes, bedding and in the air of your home – so you are constantly in contact with them.
Triclosan
Which products contain triclosan?
Triclosan is one of the most widely used antibacterial and antifungal ingredients in household cleaners and personal care products. You will find it in some hand- or dish-washing soaps and even impregnated into surfaces such as food storage boxes and ‘antibacterial’ chopping boards.
Can triclosan harm me?
Once touted a ‘cure all’ for germs and bacteria everywhere, there is now concern about the dangerous consequences of triclosan when it is absorbed through the skin and accumulates in the body. Triclosan has been found accumulated in fish tissue and human breast milk. One of the most devastating side effects of the overuse of antibacterial products is that resistant strains of bacteria are developing all the time. This means that bacteria that were once killed by triclosan have found ways to mutate and survive in much the same way as some ‘superbugs’ are now resistant to antibiotics.
How else can I be affected by triclosan?
Research shows that when triclosan meets with free chlorine in tap water it produces a number of toxic products such as 2,4-dichlorophenol. In the presence of sunlight, these products can produce dioxins. Some dioxins are extremely toxic and are potent endocrine disruptors.
Reports have suggested that triclosan can combine with chlorine in tap water to form chloroform gas, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency classifies as a probable human carcinogen. Scientists are concerned that if you use a product containing triclosan, such as antibacterial soap, and then jump into a chlorinated swimming pool, it could produce dioxin on the surface of your skin that then gets absorbed into your body.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
Which products contain VOCs?
Many
