Which Household Cleaners Contain Secret Toxic Ingredients?

[ensho]

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/05/cleaning-products-toxic-ingredients


The label on my shower spray cleaner claims it's supposed to smell like ylang ylang. To me it smells like, well, chemicals. I was curious to see whether any real ylang ylang actually made its way into my cleaner, so I looked up the ingredients online. No ylang-ylang (or any other plant for that matter) in sight. Near the end of a long list of ingredients were the words "fragrance oil." Mysterious. Is my shower spray hiding something?

The environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice thinks it might be. Turns out that despite a New York state law that requires manufacturers of cleaning products to disclose the ingredients in their products, very few manufacturers are willing to cough up the full list. Earthjustice contacted dozens of companies and asked them to comply with the law, but four major manufacturers refused. (Full list of companies and products below.) Earthjustice and a coalition of other environmental groups responded by suing them (PDF). Jamie Sillenberger is the director of programs and policy at Women's Voices for the Earth, another group in the coalition. "We know that there are chemicals in cleaning products that are linked to reproductive harm, asthma, and a whole host of other problems," says Sillenberger. "But if consumers don’t know what’s in these products, they can’t make an informed decision about what to buy. We have the right to know what we’re being exposed to."

What we do know: Many common ingredients pose risks both to humans and the environment. Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which are used as "surfactants" to make cleaning solutions spread over a surface smoothly, are an endocrine disruptor and are banned in Europe. Ethanolamine, also a surfactant, can cause asthma attacks. Most troubling: Even chemicals that are relatively innocuous on their own can combine to create toxic substances. Ammonia and chlorine, for example, can form a toxic gas called chloramine, which can cause a whole host of respiratory symptoms. When all those chemicals end up in waterways, it's bad news for wildlife.

-snip-

Are there mystery ingredients in your favorite cleaner? Here's a list of manufacturers being sued for noncompliance with New York state law, along with the cleaning products in question:

Colgate-Palmolive:

1. Ajax Fabuloso All-Purpose Cleaner

2. Dynamo

3. Murphy Oil Soap (wood cleaner, soap spray, soft wipes)

4. Dermassage

5. Palmolive (dishwashing soap)

6. Ajax Dish Liquid

Reckitt-Benckiser:

7. Calgon

8. Vanish

9. Resolve

10. Spray ‘n Wash

11. Woolite

12. Lysol

13. Finish (dishwashing detergent)

14. Electrasol (dishwashing detergent)

Procter & Gamble

15. Joy

16. Cascade

17. Ivory (laundry detergent and dish detergent only)

-snip the list goes on and on-

-------------------------

sigh - we are so f- - ked.

[blogslut]

1. I get it but I have a problem with the writer

I would never describe ammonia and chlorine as "relatively innocuous on their own".

[SoCalDem]

11. I think they mean relatively innocuous , as in..

They have been used singly for a very long time, and people are familiar with them and the dangers of usage.
and as chemical cleaners go, they are rather "primitive"..

Our grandmothers (my age group at least) used stuff like:

fels-naptha
borax/washing soda
vinegar
baking soda
ammonia
bleach

Of course these things did not "smell good", and the advertising industry spent a lot of time & money convincing us all that everything simply must smell great..even if the chemicals give our kids allergies, asthma, cancer, autism, ADDHD, and any number of other alphabet-disorders.

[bridgit]

2. As it turns out, I don't use any of those products

[Javaman]

3. Water, vinegar and a little lemon juice...

is all we use for cleaning.

Oh and tea tree oil.

[Happyhippychick]

4. And baking soda. I'm with ya.

[Javaman]

5. Oh yeah, that too! :)

Since I have been growing mint, I have been drying it and putting in my baking soda. Adds a really nice fragrance. :)

[My Good Babushka]

6. After my toilet cleaner stained my carpet blue

I switched to Borax. I clean the whole bathroom with that except the mirrors, of course. Also, I've started washing my hair with baking soda and rinsing with apple cider vinegar. It's fantastic and full of body and my scalp is healthy and pink. Mainly I did it to cut down on buying stuff in plastic bottles, but it's going to save me oodles of money, too.

[jberryhill]

7. Calgon?

I thought that was an ancient Chinese secret!

[Donnachaidh]

9. LOL -- boy that's dating yourself - and me too

How long ago did that ad run? :rofl:

[jberryhill]

15. Here you go....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yW6vObBOVE

[Donnachaidh]

8. murphy's oil soap? Really?

This was something I used to clean tack years ago, and as far as I knew back then, it was not filled with crap ingredients. Did wonders for the leather.

That's disappointing.

[freeplessinseattle]

10. damn, I assumed Murphy's oil was natural and safe

and use it weekly.

hmm, lately my hair has been falling out-and I am a 38 year old female, so it really shouldn't be thinning this badly but it is freaking me out. I asked a hairdresser at a social event yesterday what could be going on (at my last haircut the young chick just said it was age, but my mom didn't have that problem, and my grandma has more hair than me). She suggested it could be an endocrine disorder and to visit an endocrinologist-which isn't going to happen, since I have no insurance. Maybe I should just be extra careful about my cleaners. crikey.

[seeviewonder]

12. I work for a company that handles wastewater

and EPA compliance issues for industiral factories as well as
some municipalities in central Illinois/western Indiana. One
of the factories we work for produces things for Proctor and
Gamble, namely Cascade and several other personal hygiene
products. About a month ago, an accident occurred at this
factory and some of the employees at the company I work for
were called in at about 2:00 AM (I was one of them) to oversee
the cleaning of the spill. What was spilled was highly
concentrated Cascade and from what we understand it consisted
of some sort of enzyme and other "inert"
ingredients. Anyway, someone had apparently overfilled a vat
before they left at 10:00 and nobody noticed until about 4
hours later. About 2500 gallons or so of the concentrated
Cascade spilled all over the ground outside the building in
addition to about a 4 inch layer coating the floor inside the
building. 

The company I work for helped supply equipment to clean up the
mess (tanker trucks, hoses, etc.) but we did not participate
in the cleanup other than providing these materials. The
people cleaning it up worked for the factory and they were in
FULL hazmat uniforms. I have no idea what was actually in that
concentrated Cascade, but I think the hazmat suits speak for
themselves. I'd really like to know what exactly was in it.

[Kali]

14. probably just chlorine

there is a fair amount in electric dishwasher detergent

[seeviewonder]

16. Hopefully you're right

We were there breathing the vapor but the people didn't bother to give any of us respirators.

[seeviewonder]

13. I work for a company that handles wastewater

and EPA compliance issues for industiral factories as well as
some municipalities in central Illinois/western Indiana. One
of the factories we work for produces things for Proctor and
Gamble, namely Cascade and several other personal hygiene
products. About a month ago, an accident occurred at this
factory and some of the employees at the company I work for
were called in at about 2:00 AM (I was one of them) to oversee
the cleaning of the spill. What was spilled was highly
concentrated Cascade and from what we understand it consisted
of some sort of enzyme and other "inert"
ingredients. Anyway, someone had apparently overfilled a vat
before they left at 10:00 and nobody noticed until about 4
hours later. About 2500 gallons or so of the concentrated
Cascade spilled all over the ground outside the building in
addition to about a 4 inch layer coating the floor inside the
building. 

The company I work for helped supply equipment to clean up the
mess (tanker trucks, hoses, etc.) but we did not participate
in the cleanup other than providing these materials. The
people cleaning it up worked for the factory and they were in
FULL hazmat uniforms. I have no idea what was actually in that
concentrated Cascade, but I think the hazmat suits speak for
themselves. I'd really like to know what exactly was in it.

[1monster]

17. I use vinegar... It is a natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and cuts through grease and dirt

faster than any other cleaner I've ever used.

It is really cheap, and so safe I can use it for aalad dressing too!