What if someone were to come into your lovely shining home and mix up a cocktail of unknown chemicals for you and your family to distribute around house. Would you allow it? Of course not. You wouldn’t want potentially poisonous chemicals around your house to pose a risk of contamination to air you breath or to what your family eat & drink.

Disturbingly however, they may already be there.

Brought into your home as unseen and unlabelled additives in many of cleaning products that are commonly available to keep your house sparkling clean.

You may think that ingredients in household products are safe having been tested by authorities and cleared for use because they are known to pose no threat. Sadly, nothing could be further from truth.

In reality many hazardous chemicals are added to consumer goods. Some of these are known to be hazardous, but current legislation allows for their continued use. This is because regulations work on ‘safe limits’ of exposure for individual products. The weaknesses of this approach are that they do not add up accumulated doses from multiple sources of exposure, and neither do they take into account effect on children and unborn infants, dosages allowed being based on adult tolerance levels.

A study by European Environment Agency carried out in 1998 noted that ”widespread exposures to low levels of chemicals may be causing harm, possibly irreversibly, particularly to sensitive groups such as children and pregnant women…”

Consider some of these common types of household cleaning product and what threat they may carry.

Air Fresheners

Many of these products contain formaldehyde and phenol. The former is a known carcinogen and later can cause skin irritation.

Antibacterial Cleaners

May contain triclosan, which has been connected to liver damage and is readily absorbed through skin

Carpet and upholstery shampoo

Many contain perchlorethane, which is a carcinogen which damages liver, kidneys and central nervous system. Ammonium hydroxide may also be present which is a corrosive compound, extremely irritating to eyes, skin and respiratory system.

Dishwasher detergents

Studies have shown these to be foremost cause of home poisoning incidents. Most products contain dry form of chlorine. Scientists and engineers do not handle chlorine without protective clothing. It is extremely dangerous and can very easily be lethal. Indeed, it was first agent to be used in World War One as a chemical warfare agent.

Dishwashing liquids are labelled ‘harmful if swallowed’ yet it is used to wash your dishes. Can we be certain that no residues are left on your crockery to be picked up by your food?

Furniture polish

Commonly contain nitrobenzene, which is highly toxic and easily absorbed through skin. Petroleum distillates may also be present, which are highly flammable and have been linked to skin & lung cancer.

Laundry products.

These present a veritable cocktail of chemicals, including ammonia, phosphourous, naphthalene & phenol along with numerous others. They can all cause irritation to skin, allergies and sinus problems. Any residue left in your clothes can be absorbed into your body through skin.

Oven cleaner

These are most powerful toxic products that you can introduce into your home. They contain ammonia and other chemicals which can irritate skin, and produce fumes which can attack respiratory system. Any residue left in your oven may be intensified when you next use it.

Toilet cleaner

These usually contain hydrochloric acid which is highly corrosive, eyes and skin being particularly vulnerable to attack, and known to be harmful to liver and kidneys. If mixed with other chemical products, chlorine can be produced which can be fatal in high concentrations.

The above is a brief overview of possible risks, and it must be stressed that effects noted for individual chemicals are for high levels of exposure. However, point being made by many agencies such as Greenpeace is that level of exposure in home is unknown and unmonitored.

What can you do as a householder to minimise risk to yourself and your family? Well, if you are able, you may want to try talking to your grandmother, as past generations have had to undertake most modern cleaning tasks without intervention of chemical industry. For instance, she may have used common salt and baking soda to clean oven and not risk poisoning anyone.

The easiest way to avoid risk is to avoid products. Governments are not going to outlaw chemicals, and manufacturers are not going to replace them unless they are forced to do so, either by regulation or by consumer pressure.