Most home owners believe their homes are safe, although our home provides shelter and protects us from heat and rain, have you ever wondered how cleaning the home can be a health risk? We use chemicals in our homes that are very harmful to our health and we are exposing our children to these chemicals each time we do our house cleaning. Below is a list of those chemicals.

Formaldehyde was confirmed to be a cancer causative chemical mostly cancer of the nose and throat by the researchers. A Little amount of this chemical are found on most of the household products we use such as non-eco- friendly cleaning products, cosmetics and pressed wood products. Box springs and mattresses often contain this toxic formaldehyde, as well as other harmful chemicals that are used for house cleaning.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is found in many household products and is dangerous to human health. Products such as nylon backpacks, water bottles, plastic pipes and plastic drinking cups as well as almost anything that has a plastic waterproof covering, such as your mattress covers and baby changing mats. The byproducts or PVC blocks your hormones and cause respiratory problems and may also cause cancer. The FDA confirms that Polyvinyl Chloride primary component, Vinyl Chloride is a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissues. We should try to avoid some of these chemicals at home when doing house cleaning.
Chlorine bleach is very toxic if inhaled or ingested. Its corrosive property can damage the human respiratory tracts, and also damage the endocrine and the immune systems. But on a daily basis households keep using this product to do their laundry, cleaning kids’ toys and working surfaces in the house.
Sodium hydroxide is a well-known chemical for house cleaning and it is used by millions of home worldwide. You will find this chemical on some house hold products like laundry detergents and dishwasher, including bathroom cleaners and ovens. These chemicals are very harmful to the body due to their corrosive properties and cause severe harm to the human body such as respiratory tracts and skin irritation.
Hydrochloric acid is also another household chemical that is harmful and needs to be avoided. This lethal and dangerous chemical is found in toilet bowl cleaners and we use them on to do our house cleaning daily. Yes, it’s true you can use a mask or some protective gloves when using these chemicals. But even at that, the fumes are very harmful to our health.
It is worth noting that many of these chemicals are a harmful to us humans and our pets at home, they are harmful to the household and our environment in general and we should try as much as possible to avoid them. It is best to clean with eco-friendly products that do not harm our water and eco environment. If you intend to use a professional cleaner, ensure you ask the number one question when comparing cleaning quotes. ‘Do you use eco-friendly cleaning products that do not harm the environment?’ Understand that cheapest is not always the safest and try to gather more information to make an informed decision. Understand that when harmful products are flushed through our water system during routine house cleaning, they cause severe damage to water eco system by altering water PH level and hence, leading to hard water which in turn causes damage to our food resources.


