Create A Healthier Home By Eliminating Your Toxic Household Cleaning Products

Have you ever wondered what exactly is in the household cleaning products that you use? Would you be surprised if I told you that many of the household cleaners still contain toxic chemicals that are hazardous to your health and the health of your family? I'll share with you some of the various chemicals still found in a lot of the household cleaners sold in stores, the hazardous effects that they can have on you and your family, how you can start cleaning your house without toxic chemicals as well as how you can improve the air quality in your home.

Many people don't even know what exactly is in the household cleaning products that they use. That's because there is no law requiring manufacturers to list the ingredients on the labels of their cleaning products. Therefore most people are unaware of which household cleaning products contain toxic chemicals and thus don't know which cleaners are safe to use and which ones aren't. The following is a list of many of the toxic chemicals commonly found in household cleaning products as well as the hazardous effects they can have on your health.

Neurotoxins are some of the most commonly found toxins in household cleaners. Neurotoxins include Acetone, Butyl Cellusolve, D-Limonene, Methylene Chloride, and Xylene. The health risks of Neurotoxins include skin and eye irritation, respiratory problems including asthma, liver and kidney damage, brain damage and heart attack.

Carcinogens are another common toxic chemical found in cleaning products. Carcinogens include Diethanolamine(DEA), Ethoxylated Nonyl Phenol, Formaldehyde, Methylene Chloride, Naphthalene, Paradichlorobenzene, and Sodium hypochlorite(bleach). Carcinogens are extremely dangerous because they are known to cause cancer.

Other toxic chemicals found in household cleaners include

Ammonia which alone is dangerous because it can irritate the eyes and skin and also trigger asthma in children, but when Ammonia is mixed with Bleach, a toxic gase called Chloramine is produced. Exposure to chloramine gas can cause nausea, shortness of breath, chest pain, irritation to the throat, nose and eyes and even pneumonia and fluid in the lungs.

Acids when mixed with Bleach create Chlorine Gas. Chlorine Gas can irritate the eyes, throat and nose and cause coughing and breathing problems. High levels of exposure to Chlorine Gas can cause chest pain, severe breathing problems, vomiting, pneumonia, fluid in the lungs and even death.

Monoethanolamine can cause liver, kidney and reproductive damage, as well as depression of the central nervous system, dizziness and even a coma.

Morpholine can cause severely irritate and burn skin and eyes, and can even cause blindness. It can also cause liver and kidney damage, and long-term exposure can result in bronchitis.

Phosphoric acid is extremely corrosive, and can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes. Breathing vapours can make the lungs ache, and it may be toxic to the central nervous system.

Sodium dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate may cause liver and gastrointestinal damage, and may be toxic to the central nervous system.

So to recap, these toxic chemicals, and many others found in all-purpose cleaners, dishwashing liquid, glass and window cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, toilet cleaners, carpet cleaners, furniture polish and other cleaning products that you use everyday can cause serious health problems including cancer, heart attack, liver and kidney damage, pneumonia and more. Don't risk the health and well being of you and your family by continuing to expose yourself to toxic chemicals when you don't have to.

Did you know that homes can have much higher chemical levels than the outdoors in large part because of all of the chemicals found in household cleaning products? It doesn't have to be that way though. You can reduce the toxic levels in your home in a variety of ways.

One way is to avoid using products with toxic chemicals unless absolutely necessary. When it comes to household cleaning products there are a lot of non-toxic, eco-friendly options out there. If you're not sure whether or not the products that you use contain toxic chemicals then read the list of ingredients. As I said before, the law doesn't require manufacturers to list their ingredients on the labels of household cleaning products but the brands of non-toxic, eco-friendly products will have a list of all of their ingredients on their labels. So if you want to know if a specific cleaning product is safe to use then read the list of ingredients.

If you're a do it yourselfer then you can even make your own non-toxic household cleaning products with ingredients that you probably already have in your house. There already are a lot of great hubpages on how to create your own non-toxic cleaning products so I'll just refer you to those pages for the recipes. Just check out the links section at the bottom to see which hubpages I recommend for do it yourself housecleaning recipes.

Another way to reduce the toxic levels in your home is by decorating your home with some plants. Plants, as I'm sure you know, make for great air filters and can filter out the toxins in your home. If you want to reduce the level of Formaldehyde in your house then philodendrons, spider plants and the golden pothos make for the best choices. Other plants you may want in your house to help improve your indoor air quality are Chinese evergreens, peace lily's and any type of Dracaena plants.

Increasing the amount of outdoor air into your home is another great way to improve your indoor air quality. You may not know this but most heating and cooling systems don't bring fresh air into your house. So if you want to air out your house and then you'll have to open some windows once in a while to let some fresh air into your house and force out all of that polluted air.

These are just some of the ways you can reduce the toxic levels in your home and improve your indoor air quality.