The cleaning products found in our homes undoubtedly do the job of cleaning our houses, but they are making a bigger impact on the environment, and that impact is anything but sanitary. Conventional cleaners can contain cancer-causing agents, allergens and other, possibly deadly, toxins. Organic cleaning products are a safer, cost-effective solution to the problem of harmful, toxic products.
When we clean our homes, the ingredients of our cleaning products get released into the environment through toilet drains, sink drains, being sprayed into the air and dumped into the trash. Those are just the ways that the harmful ingredients are exposed to the environment: here are some of the ingredients that do so much damage.
- Formaldehyde: This ingredient can be found in various cleaning products, one of them being furniture polish, and is a possible carcinogen for humans. It is known to cause cancer in animals.
- Chlorine bleach: This harmful product is sold both by itself as well as in other cleaning products. Chlorine is especially harmful to organisms in the water and soil, is extremely toxic to fish, and contributes to a very slow breakdown when mixed with organisms in water. Chlorine is dangerous to all beings that live in the water and soil.
- Phosphates: These are found in detergents and are also very harmful to living things in the soil and water. Not only do phosphates kill fish and aquatic plants, they produce chemicals that are harmful to the animals and humans who drink the water they contaminate.
- Phthalates: Phthalates are chemical acids which are found in furniture polish as well as other cleaning products. They are known to cause genetic defects in humans as well as animals.
- Ether-type solvents: Ether solvents are chemical compounds, and along with other types of chloride and distillates, are found in oven cleaners and are hazardous waste. They contaminate the air, water and soil.
- Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide: These products are found in drain cleaners and together, contaminate and change the acidity of water and kill fish.
Switching from these harmful cleaning products to organic cleaners does not have to drain your wallet. Natural cleaning products do the same job as your conventional cleaners and are reasonably priced. Choose from furniture polishes, drain cleaners, de-greasers, glass cleaners, non-chlorine bleaches and more for your environmentally friendly cleaning.
Source: ETS Energy
