|
How Toxic Are My Cleaners? by Philip Dickey Hazards of Cleaning Products Some cleaning products are corrosive. That means that they can seriously irritate or burn skin or eyes. Corrosive cleaners include some drain cleaners, most oven cleaners, some toilet bowl cleaners, and some rust removers. Such products will have the word DANGER on the label. Products containing ammonia or chlorine bleach are chemically reactive and should never be mixed together or with other products. In addition, these products are irritating to the lungs if inhaled. Solvent-based cleaning products, such as spot removers, degreasers, and some furniture polishes and metal polishes, can be toxic and flammable. Accidental ingestion of these products can be especially dangerous. Most cleaning products are eye irritants and some are also skin irritants. Cleaning products are consistently among the products most frequently ingested accidentally by children. Many are not particularly toxic, but the corrosives and solvent-based products can cause serious damage. A few cleaning products contain ingredients that are slow to break down in the environment and may be air or water pollutants. One group of ingredients of particular concern are the alkylphenol ethoxylates, or APEs. These detergents are slow to break down and form compounds that can disrupt the endocrine systems of fish, birds, and mammals. APEs are found in some laundry detergents, disinfecting cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, spot removers, hair colors and other hair-care products, and spermicides. Disposal of Cleaning Products Most cleaning products are water based and can be disposed down the sink or toilet in small quantities. However, it is best to use up unwanted products or give them to someone who can use them. Never pour solvent-based products down the drain. Never dump liquid cleaning products in the trash. Disposal instructions may vary with location. For information about disposal of household hazardous waste in your community, call your local solid waste utility or health department. Finding Alternatives Some cleaning products are much less hazardous than others. Washington Toxics Coalition has a fact sheet called Safer Cleaning Products that contains suggestions for safer products, and information on disinfectants, environmental hazards, and other related topics. This is an abridged version of a more extensive fact sheet available in print form from The Washington Toxics Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting public health and the environment by identifying and promoting alternatives to toxic chemicals. They sell a number of fact sheets on a variety of environmental issues for the home. Visit them on the Web at http://www.watoxics.org/index.html.
|
