Your house should be a place where you feel comfortable and safe. You probably believe that cleaning is harmless and you feel great when your house is clean and smells good. Though, it could have more impact on your health than you actually think! Indeed, did you know that using chemical cleaning products can be bad for your body as well as the environment? Using chemical cleaning products has a huge impact on indoor air pollution which has been linked to respiratory problems, allergies, asthma and even cancer. You can read our blog post about indoor air pollution and how you can prevent it here. In the next lines, you will learn more about the impact of conventional cleaning products and why you should prefer to choose ecological products.
Why chemical cleaning products aren’t healthy
Open your cupboard and have a look. Some of these colorful bottles intended to make your home a cleaner place might actually contain harmful ingredients that you want to avoid at all cost. We believe (and our beliefs have been backed by science) that conventional cleaning products can be really harmful to your health. Indeed, many chemicals are linked to respiratory problems, cancer, hormones disruption, etc. When asked, the companies that manufacture those products will often suggest that even if those hazardous claims are true, the product is safe to use if you respect the instructions on the label. It is true that during the research & development process, products often go through laboratory tests. The problem is that the products are usually tested alone and in small quantities. When at home, the cleaning products are often used simultaneously with other cleaning products and over time everything adds-up. This is even more true when we think about the impact of lifetime exposure to those contaminants.
There are some chemical ingredients that you should absolutely avoid and we created a blog post for you to know exactly which one & why (here).
Now that you know why chemical cleaning products aren’t healthy, you might think to yourself “well it is ok as I don’t ingest these products” but let us be clear, even if you are not drinking or eating the products straight from the bottles, you definitely ingest some of these nasty substances.
How can you ingest the chemicals in your cleaning products?
Here are a few ways you could be harming yourself without even noticing it. When cleaning with these products, chemicals can come in contact with your hands if you are not using gloves. Knowing than the skin is your biggest organ, the toxic substances can pass from your skin into your body and your blood stream. You can also contaminate your eyes, mouth and skin when touching your face, getting them irritated or even develop allergies. Furthermore, small particles from your cleaning agents may contaminate the air you and your family breathe, causing progressive damage to your body. Also, your kids can put recently cleaned objects in their mouth, swallowing toxic chemicals.
You see how easy it is to ingest toxic products without even noticing it! This is why we suggest you opt for eco-friendly cleaning products instead.
Choose healthy eco-labelled products instead
Looking for eco-friendly and safe cleaning products is the way to go. But beware, some brands tend to make consumers believe their products are environmentally friendly by adding a green logo or a picture of plants on them. This is what we call “green washing”. Instead of trusting what catches your eye at the supermarket, try to look beyond the attractive packaging. As we know that your time is precious and you don’t have time to look at all the products, we encourage you to choose eco-labelled products! When adding these in your shopping cart, you can be sure that they were made with safer and ecological substances. All the best for your family and the planet! (Learn more about the different eco-labels here.)
Most eco-friendly cleaning products are made with plant-based ingredients which have lower health risks. They are free of substances that are toxic, cancerogenic or even corrosives. You might wonder if eco-friendly products are as effective as conventional ones and we can assure you that they are. You might sometimes need to leave them on the surface that needs to be cleaned for a few minutes so they can do the job properly but at the end they are as effective as chemical ones.
At the end of the day when you choose eco-friendly cleaning products you can feel good knowing that you are choosing a better living environment for you and your family while reducing your impact on the indoor air pollution and pollution of the water & our planet.