We are bombarded with ads for an ever-increasing assortment of harsh cleaning products that promise to melt dirt away without scrubbing and wipe out every possible evil bacteria lurking in our kitchens. 

But while our houses may shine brighter than ever before, they may also be a haven for harmful chemicals with the potential to endanger our health and the environment. 

Many cleaning products contain corrosive ingredients, petroleum-based chemicals and suspected carcinogens that can build up in our bodies, pollute the air and contaminate waterways.

Consequently, there has been a strong push among environmentalists and health advocates to switch to greener cleaning products that are biodegradable and do not contain synthetic chemicals.

“We are creating a toxic soup in our homes,” says Kristle Calisto-Tavares, who runs Winnipeg-based Inspired Practice, a company that helps organizations become more socially, ecologically and economically sustainable.

“People have become so afraid of germs that they feel they have to use these toxic cleaners. Unfortunately they don’t realize the potential damage they are doing to their health, in terms of their exposure to chemicals, the effect on indoor air quality, and the impact on the environment when all these cleaners are poured down drains.”

Studies have shown that indoor air can be anywhere from two to 11 times more polluted than outdoor air due to toxic compounds.

For example, many bathroom cleaners and automatic dishwasher detergents contain chlorine bleach, a hazardous air pollutant in its own right, that can react with chemicals in the environment to form dioxin, a hormone disrupter than can build up in our tissues and infect the air.

Ammonia, a common ingredient in household cleaners, is a suspected carcinogen, that stays in the air for up to four hours after being sprayed in the house and can corrode lungs.

Many household cleaners also contain sodium lauryl sulphate, a harsh foaming agent and suspected cancer-causing agent, which was originally used as a garage floor cleaner and is very harsh on the skin.

Jay Boschman, who has spent the last 36 years working as a Manitoba pharmacist, says we should be switching to environmentally friendly cleaning products for the health of our families and for the sake of our lakes and rivers.

“The No. 1 toxic product in the home and a potential cancer-causing agent is automatic dishwasher detergent,” says Boschman, who is a preferred customer with EcoSense, a line of green cleaning products that is sold online.

“It vents into the air and if you can smell it, you are inhaling it and those chemicals are stored in your body. I am trying to get people to realize that there are non-toxic, phosphate-free products on the market that we can use to improve our health and flush less phosphates and toxic chemicals down our drains.”

Phosphates — which are found in automatic dishwasher detergent — have become a cause for concern because of its impact on waterways, such as Lake Winnipeg. While phosphates are a nutrient essential to human, animal and plant life, when too much phosphorus and nitrogen load up in waterways it creates algae blooms which deplete oxygen from the water, killing live organisms.

William Barlow, chair of the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board says that there are many ways phosphorus enters our waterways (lawn fertilizers, inadequate sewer systems, manure from agricultural land, to name a few), but if Manitobans stopped using automatic dishwasher detergent containing phosphates it would be a big step in the right direction.

“If you think of how many dishwashers there are in Winnipeg alone, it adds up,” he explains.

“As individuals we have to take some of the blame and do our part.”

 

Winnipeg Free Press

Sun Aug 19 2007

Cheryl Binning