The necessity of a clean home, and the use of chemical-laced cleaners, is often at odds with our own health and that of the environment. As a result, the effects of chemical buildup in the air, water, and our bodies has become its own epidemic. The average US household accumulates up to 100 pounds of hazardous household waste, including cleaning products, paints, oils, batteries, and pesticides.[1] Additionally, it is estimated that each American household contains 63 synthetic chemical products, adding up to roughly 10 gallons of harmful cleaning products and pesticides.[2] Inside our homes, as a result of these harmful chemicals, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests the air can be two to five times more polluted than the outside air, and in extreme cases the level can reach 100 times that of the outside contamination rate.[3]
Conventional household cleaners often contain chemical cleaning agents like alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which do not easily break down in sewage treatment after they are washed down the drain.[4] APEs are among the most widely used groups of surfactants, with about half a million tons produced annually worldwide.[5] The EPA has identified APEs as endocrine disrupters, which can affect the reproductive systems of birds and mammals and disrupt the ability of some fish to reproduce.[6] Measurable levels of APEs have been found in some lakes and streams.[7]
The EPA cites drain cleaners, toilet cleaners, bleach, and shower cleaners on its list of common household items containing potentially hazardous ingredients.[8] If these products are improperly disposed of—including pouring them down the drain or toilet or putting them out with the trash—they are considered to be "hazardous household waste," or "HHW." Americans generate 1.6 million tons of HHW per year, which pollutes the environment and threatens human health.[8]
Related health issues
The very supplies used in the struggle to keep dust, grime, and germs at bay may be polluting the water as we rinse, unbalancing our immune systems as we disinfect, and persistently irritating our eyes, skin, and lungs long after their initial use.[9] A disinfectant may kill germs temporarily on application, but its lasting damage may be in repeated bodily absorption through the skin or mucous membranes in the mouth and nose.[10]
In addition, chemical household cleaners are responsible for many poisonings. According to the National Capital Poison Center, 89 percent of all poison exposures occur in the home, and most poisonings involve everyday household items such as cleaning supplies, medicines, cosmetics, and personal care items.[11]
External links
Everything you need to clean green
- Care2 - Green living: Make Your Own Nontoxic Cleaning Kit
- Washington Toxics Coalition - Cleaning Products
- Washington Toxics Coalition - FastFacts
- TreeHugger - How to Green Your Cleaning
- GreenSeal - Certified Cleaning Products
- Thrifty Fun - Poisons Under Your Sink: Hidden Dangers of Cleaning Products
- Worldwatch Institute: Good Stuff? - Cleaning Products
Footnotes
- US Environmental Protection Agency - Household Hazardous Waste
- TreeHugger - How to Green Your Cleaning: By The Numbers
- Worldwatch Institute - Good Stuff? Cleaning Products
- Friends of the Earth (UK) - An Environmental Assessment of Alkylphenol Ethoxylates and Alkylphenols
- Environmental Science and Technology - European Bans on Surfactant Trigger Transatlantic Debate
- Citizens Campaign for the Environment - Cintas: A Campaign for Clean Water & Corporate Responsibility
- US Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service: Alkylphenol and Alkylphenol-Ethxoylates in Carp, Water, and Sediment from Cuyahoga River, Ohio
- US Environmental Protection Agency - Household Hazardous Waste
- Nova - The bitter-sweet taste of toxic substances
- Drinking Water and Health, Vol. 7 Disinfectants and Disinfectant By-Products (Safe Drinking Water Committee, National Research Council)
- National Capital Poison Center - Poison Exposures in the United States
