End of the Semester – Spring Cleaning!

 

Emma Lagreze-5452

It’s just about that time to push your futon aside and see what was spilled there three months ago…Okay, so maybe some of us clean more often than that, but for those of us preparing to get rid of a semester’s worth of grime it is understandable to want the strongest spray that will clean the quickest.

But wait!!! Did you know that the Federal Hazardous Substances Act does not require household products to include a list of contents? Even household cleaning products claiming to be Green or All Natural can still contain harmful chemicals, known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors like alkylphenols.

While manufacturers are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all products, these lists of ingredients and possible health effects are understandably difficult for the average consumer to find, let alone comprehend.

So with the hundreds of cleaning products out there touting their strength and effectiveness, how do we avoid alcohol ethoxylates and fragrances formed from phthalates? We try to become conscious consumers willing to take the extra step to discover what exactly is lifting last Wednesday’s spaghetti sauce off the stove. We can do this with a little pre-shopping browsing online.

The Environmental Working Group provides an extensive list of products on their Guide to Healthy Cleaning to help you make safer choices when scrubbing your home clean this spring. In addition, EWG also debunks misleading labeling that encourages consumers to purchase many of these toxic products.

The Household Products Database is where you will find all those MSDS mentioned above, for hundreds of cleaning products (and other everyday products too!) to help us steer clear.

 

Check it out and practice safer spring cleaning

http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners

 

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/

 

 

 

 

 

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