The Truth About Chemical Cleaners and Asthma

Photo provided by Jessica Turnbow at pastelfables

The truth is... chemical cleaning products irritate the respiratory system.

Period.

And respiratory distress, such as asthma, is on the rise.  According to Dr. Mercola (see below), asthma has increased 300% in the last 20 years.  That's an astounding statistic that leaves us wondering why.  While allergies is one part of it, the other greater culprit is the air we breathe.

Did you know that the air in our homes is actually 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air?  When we think about it, it makes perfect sense.  The walls and windows enclose any fumes we release in our humble abodes.  Anything from appliances (think self-cleaning oven and dish washer fumes) to furniture off-gassing (think new furniture smell) to paraffin candles to aerosol air fresheners.  And, I'm hoping that by now no one is still smoking in their homes, but that's another toxin that gets trapped in the home.

What about household cleaners?  If we're not using safe products, we can bet that we are creating quite the chemical soup in our homes.  Carpet cleaners, bleach, drain cleaners, glass cleaners, scouring cleansers, toilet bowl cleaners, scale/ lime removers.  All of these products contain harsh chemicals that irritate mucous membranes, are toxic to the lungs, irritate the respiratory tract, and cause irritation of eyes, nose, throat and skin (which absorbs it all through the pores).

Anyone predisposed to asthma is in big trouble if they insist on using these products.

A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the "acute one-hour exposure limit" for glycol-ether containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. (Sources: News-Medical.net; University of California at Berkeley.)

The reason companies get away with manufacturing and selling these awful products is that there are no real studies done on human beings to prove their toxicity.  I mean, who would subject themselves to such a test?

What's really scary is that chemical cleaning products are never tested for their "mixability".  For example, when cleaning the bathroom, you might use a shower/tile cleaner, and then something for the sink and yet another cleaner for the floors.  Unless you have three different people doing that job (and if you do, please send them over), then you are inhaling the fumes of 3 different cleaners, probably 3 different brands, and 3+ different chemicals that have never been meant to be married.

Without any laboratory testing, you can feel for yourself what cleaning with toxic products is like.  You might be wondering why you've suddenly developed a hacking cough while cleaning the shower.  Or, perhaps your throat is suddenly itchy after cleaning the toilet. You don't need to have a full-blown asthma attack to know that there is something not right with your cleaning routine when you get physically symptoms such as:

• headache
• coughing
• sneezing
• dizziness or nausea
• irritated eyes
• irritated throat

Imagine what your body has to endure with a lifetime of using these dangerous products. Imagine what young children's body's, that are highly vulnerable to toxins, have to keep fighting with a lifetime of exposure to these products.  It's no wonder their systems starts to react after a while. 

So, we can get into the nitty gritty details of how toxic cleaners cause and aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

But, do we really need to?  Most importantly, why are you even going to take the risk?

The good news is that you can do something about it.  The resources below do a super job of detailing it all for us.

Resources for you:

Real Dirt on Clean (affiliate video with a personal account by a mother whose child was taken to hospital for severe breathing problems, and what she learned)
Safe Cleaning for People with Asthma (a great PDF with recipes and tips)
Students Face Health Risks from Air Contamination (article from EWG about what's lurking in classrooms)
Sure-Fire Strategies to Help Asthma Naturally (video and article by Dr. Mercola) 
Asthma (an extensive article by Dr. Greene)