Not much feels better than looking at your home after a good spring cleaning and knowing that you’ve disinfected and scrubbed everything until it sparkles. But what if you’re hurting more than you’re helping?
Sometimes, the unsafe chemicals in cleaning products have more of an impact than we think. Although they might take some of the elbow grease out of the job for you, these chemicals are also potentially quite dangerous.
Some of the most common unsafe chemicals in cleaning products include the following:
Household pesticides: If you have found ants, mice, or other unwelcome neighbors in your home, you may be looking for an easy way to get rid of them. Many chemical sprays and other products offer an easy solution, but you should be careful with them. Oftentimes, these household pesticides are also labeled as carcinogens for animals and even humans. Dichlorvos, for example, is found in many household pesticides, and has been known to cause tumors in small rodents during lab studies.
Alkylphenols: These are industrial chemicals you are likely to find in your detergents and hair products. They also act as endocrine disruptors in your body, and have caused problems in the mammary glands of rodents in tests before.
Mercury: Although there has been a recent movement away from mercury, it is still found in trace amounts in some thermometers and other household cleaning products. Mercury is known to disrupt natural cellular processes and has been found in most cancer cells studied by doctors.
Cadmium: This harmful chemical is used in rechargeable batteries. Until recently, it was also used in dyes for metal coatings and plastics. This chemical mimics estrogen and can cause early puberty as well as alterations in mammary glands. As these are two risk factors for breast cancer, cadmium can be quite dangerous in large doses.
Although these and other unsafe chemicals in cleaning products can pose a serious risk to your health, they only do so in large doses. You should try to limit use of products which include these chemicals and search for safer, softer chemicals, but don’t be afraid to use these occasionally. If you have small children or animals in your home, you should always check the ingredients of your cleaning products and insure that they are kept out of reach of your children or pets to avoid accidental consumption.
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