Potentially Toxic Cleaning Products

We have done some research, checked consumer products and have a created a list of some of the worst offenders for being either a health hazard for your family and pets, or creating an extremely negative effect on the environment.  Please check out the below potentially toxic cleaning products to see if they are in your home and if you can find safer alternatives.

Scrubbing Bubbles – Antibacterial Bathroom Cleaner & Extend-A-Clean Mega Shower Foamer

These products contain up to 10 percent DEGBE, also called butoxydiglycol, a solvent banned in the European Union at concentrations above 3 percent in aerosol cleaners. It can irritate and inflame the lungs.

EASY-OFF Fume Free Oven Cleaner

This spray contains 5 to 10 percent DEGBE. The E.U. bars concentrations of DEGBE greater than 3 percent because it can harm the lungs.

Walmart’s Great Value

This store brand does not list ingredients in its Heavy Duty Oven & Grill Cleaner and lemon-scented Furniture Polish, despite the company’s commitment “to sell products that sustain people and the environment.” Other items sold under the Great Value brand list few ingredients or use general terms for them. Look for products listing most or all ingredients on the label or website. No information could mean something to hide.

Clorox, Fantastik, Febreze, Formula 409, Easy-Off, Lysol, Mr. Clean and Spic and Span.

Many of the spray cleaners sold under these brand names are laced with quaternary ammonium compounds or ethanolamine, ingredients classified as asthmagens by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, a professional association of clinics and health experts. These chemicals can trigger asthma attacks and can cause new cases of the disease in people who are asthma-free. Ingredients classified as asthmagens don’t belong in spray products.

Comet Disinfectant Cleanser Powder

This product emitted 146 different chemicals, including some thought to cause cancer, asthma and reproductive disorders. The most toxic chemicals detected – formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and toluene – are not listed on the label. Little is known about the health risks of most of the contaminants found.

Febreze , Lysol, Air Wick

Air fresheners do not clean or purify the air. They merely cover up odors by releasing undisclosed mixtures of fragrance chemicals. Common fragrance components include chemicals that spur allergies, trigger asthma attacks or impair reproduction

• For more information, or more dangerous products go to www.ewg.org.  This great website breaks down products in all areas of your home and if full of important information.