Household Cleaners Hall of Shame List Highlights Hazardous Products

From Mother Nature Network's Matt Hickman:

Sorry to disturb if you’re still reeling from the news that America’s favorite black market laundry detergent, Tide, was recently found to contain alarmingly high levels of the carcinogenic solvent 1,4-dioxane (not too shockingly, the brass at Procter & Gamble claim it's nothing to worry about and currently have no plans to reformulate), but consumer watchdog organization Environmental Working Group (EWG) has just released a veritable rogues' gallery of the most noxious, nasty household cleaners on the market, and it's certainly worth a look.

Best known for Skin Deep, a database detailing the good, the bad, and the ugly of ingredients found in personal care products and cosmetics, EWG is gearing up to release a cleaning product-centric counterpart this fall in which more than 2,000 individual products from 200 brands are scrutinized via independent scientific analysis. The goal, like Skin Deep, isn’t to scare the pants off of people (although this can be a side effect) but to help (sometimes oblivious) consumers make healthier and more environmentally conscious purchasing decisions. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on Skin Deep in the past and it’s an excellent, eye-opening resource.

Anyways, as a sort of unsettling tease before the EWG Cleaners Database is officially published, EWG has released the Cleaners Hall of Shame. Basically, it’s a “worst of” list that spotlights the ickiest products to appear in the forthcoming cleaners database.

The inductees of the Cleaners Hall of Shame are divided into several categories such as “High-Hazard Ingredients,” “Fatal if Inhaled” and “Mystery Mixtures.” While the usual suspects are represented (oven and toilet cleaners, drain openers, air fresheners, etc.) there are some surprises on the list, particularly in the first category titled “Greenwashing.” Three products appear in this area: Citra-Solv Cleaner and Degreaser, Simple Green Concentrated All-Purpose Cleaner, and Whink Rust Stain Remover. The first product contains d-limonene, a citrus oil-derived solvent that can seriously compromise indoor air quality when combined with trace levels of ozone air pollution; the second product contains 2-butoxyethanol, a red blood cell-damaging, eye-irritating solvent; the third product warns: “may be fatal or cause permanent damage” and "causes severe burns which may not be immediately painful or visible." The moral of the story? EWG explains that “cleaners labeled ‘safe,’ ‘non-toxic’ and ‘green’ can contain hazardous ingredients. There should be a law against bogus claims, but there isn't.”

Another alarming category in the Cleaners Hall of Shame is “Banned Abroad” where somewhat ubiquitous products with key ingredients that have gotten them banned outside of the U.S. (in the EU, specifically) are spotlighted. They include Mop & Glo Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner (methoxydiglycol), Scrubbing Bubbles – Antibacterial Bathroom Cleaner and Extend-A-Clean Mega Shower Foamer (butoxydiglycol), Spic & Span Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner (nonylphenol ethoxylate), and others. And this is wild/wildly disturbing: Comet Cleanser Powder was found to emit more than 146 hazardous chemicals, most of them — formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform, and toluene included — are not listed on the product labeling.

Click here to check out the Cleaners Hall of Shame in its entirety. Is there a product included on the list that you use frequently at home? Will you be using it for much longer or do you think you'll be giving it the old heave-ho? And to be clear, a spritz of CVS brand oven cleaner or Spot Shot Carpet Remover won't burn a hole in your floor a la "The China Syndrome" or cause your cocker spaniel to spontaneously combust into flames from across the room. They aren't outright dangerous. As noted by EWG, the actual health risks of using these products "will depend on the level of exposure, individual susceptibility, and conditions of use or misuse."

And while we’re on the topic of cleaning product heave-ho'ing, take a gander at “The Spring Purge,” a special series from 2010 in which I tackled a host of purge-worthy, environmentally dubious household staples.

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Comments

[Sandy A]

03:50 PM on 01/18/2013

I was surprised to read that d-limonene poses a health hazard, so I went and did my own research. What I found is that the 'risks' EWG are referring to relate only to situations where there are elevated levels of ozone in the place being cleaned. The two groups at high risk seem to be professional cleaners and children spending long periods in rooms with both citrus/pine air fresheners and an active ozone-emitting air purifying machine.

Interestingly, I also discovered that the greatest source of limonene in the atmosphere comes from trees and other plants. So, a walk in a pine forest or in an orange grove in the summer would probably expose a person to more limonene than they'd get from their cleaning product.

[WeCleanLongIsland]

05:23 PM on 08/16/2012

Very interesting and eye-opening read.

[rt1027]

12:13 AM on 05/08/2012

and yet they work well

[bgreenwithvikki]

11:09 PM on 05/07/2012

Check out my site for eco-friendly cleaning products. The laundry detergent is amazing! http://www.myceladonroad.com/17549/

[Star2000dancer]

08:14 PM on 05/07/2012

It's time to go back to the old, natural products we used. And always mke sure you use cedar in closets and chests. Insects don't like cedar.

[Susan Sawhill Apito]

06:55 PM on 05/07/2012

"The first product contains d-limonene, a citrus oil-derived solvent that can seriously compromise indoor air quality when combined with trace levels of ozone air pollution" and logic like this is exactly why I don't trust the EWG for advice about anything...not cosmetics and not household products such as cleaners. The next thing they will be telling us it is unsafe to eat a grapefruit or an orange when the moon is full. NO solvent is safe under every circumstance - not citrus based solvents and not alcohol either. But that is not the same as saying there is NO safe usage! The EWG takes tidbits of information (not all of it factual) and then expands upon that information to reach conclusions that are not based in science.

[Susan Sawhill Apito]

06:56 PM on 05/07/2012

Learn more here: http://www.floridachemical.com/whatisd-limonene.htm

[mothergrace]

10:38 PM on 05/07/2012

Terpenes are a problem when used in the presence of ground level ozone. That is a fact. It is true that this is probably not a big problem indoors, however, if d-limonene became the cleaner of choice, to say, spray down railroad cars you could create air pollution. Ground level ozone is also a problem when combined with the by-products of ethanol used as a fuel.

Their claims may be somewhat exaggerated as to the absolute dangers but it isn't a good idea for people to believe that there is absolutely no problem whatsoever because something claims to be organic and groovy.

[Susan Sawhill Apito]

07:26 PM on 05/15/2012

No ingredient - regardless of whether it is natural or not, organic or not, groovy or not - is safe to an absolute certainty. Even drinking too much water can be fatal. But putting risk into perspective is important. I am sure washing down a railroad car would have a negative environmental impact even using a 100% natural, biodegreadable, earth friendly, non-toxic (etc) cleaner simply because the run-off could be overwhelming to the nearby land. Are there streams nearby? Homeowners wells? Etc. But the subject is simple household cleaners and the alternatives to the products we KNOW are hazardous to our health and environment even with normal, appropriate use - products with synthetic fragrances for example. Synthetic fragrances are pollutants and hazardous to health even for people without underlying conditions such as asthma, allergies, or chemical sensitivity. THOSE are the types of chemicals consumers need to be educated about and how to find safer alternatives - using current scientific facts and not fear or by blowing the risks totally out of proportion.

[unique]

05:19 PM on 05/07/2012

I use VINEGAR and water to clean everything from windows to floors
an I use BAKING SODA and water paste to clean my oven.

[Star2000dancer]

08:16 PM on 05/07/2012

Fanned comment!

Except, vinegar does'nt work well for me. Should I use clear vinegar instead?

And what about laundry and softner?

[unique]

09:09 PM on 05/07/2012

Oh ! I forgot, I use Walmart detergent and fabric softner.

[J Rupel]

11:39 PM on 05/08/2012

That's probably why your house smells like urine.

[lightningbolt]

03:59 PM on 05/07/2012

This is precisely why corporations need to be regulated.4

[jadedwilliam]

03:02 PM on 05/07/2012

The chemical industry has done a magnificent job keeping their industry unregulated.

[lightningbolt]

04:00 PM on 05/07/2012

They've also done a magnificent job at getting away with catastrophic disasters that cause massive death and disease.

[jadedwilliam]

04:18 PM on 05/07/2012

True. Bhopal comes to mind, just for starters.

[AKansasComment]

02:49 PM on 05/07/2012

Don't forget yet another awful chemical with health and environmental repurcussions.
Triclosan.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Triclosan%20cited.pdf

[mothergrace]

02:44 PM on 05/07/2012

Clean often with milder products. Use vinegar, baking soda, elbow grease, steam or even boiling water poured on a towel across a particularly greasy surface. Put stove top parts in the dishwasher. Also, accept a little dirt into your life. It won't kill you if something isn't shiny enough to blind you but some of these products obviously will.

[unique]

05:22 PM on 05/07/2012

FANNED.............

mothergrace,
I just posted above that I use exactly the same vinegar and baking soda.
Also these two products do not harm your animals.

[mothergrace]

06:03 PM on 05/07/2012

And they are cheap!

[cosmiCataclysm]

07:13 PM on 05/07/2012

Good post -- after years of marketing, so many of us have a skewed sense of normality.

[Scott Howes]

12:02 PM on 05/07/2012

To be forward thinking with buying products with chemicals go to the frount desk and ask for the MSDS Sheet on this product or go online and read up on is product. MSDS Sheet if need help in understanding how to read and understand I have Video Online Training on this www.isoclasses.com I have Solutions to education training to keep People safe. Be empowered to safe methods in your house for your family with clear clean recources that with access to workable e learning solutions.