How Safe Are your Household Products?

THE LAWS DON'T PROTECT US!

Most of us believe that the government has laws that protect us from harmful products.  Yes, there are laws, but they don't protect us very well.

Unfortunately, many products are assumed to be safe and are allowed to be sold in the market place without adequate testing.  Of the 17,000 chemicals that appear in common household products, only 30% have been adequately tested for their negative effects on our health; less than 10% have been tested for their effect on the nervous system; and nothing is known about the combined effects of these chemicals when mixed within our bodies.¹  It is only after the health of many consumers are affected that the government begins to look into possible health effects, and make regulations.

It would take a whole book to cover the safety and danger of every household product, so, we will just focus on two of the most commonly used household products that are of particular danger to children: cleaning products and personal care products.

CLEANING PRODUCTS

Cleaning products are among the most hazardous substances you will find in your home.  They are so toxic that they are the only household products regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to be sure about the safety of a particular product because there is no federal law requiring pre-market safety testing by the manufacturer, so the hazards of some products have not been revealed until after consumers have been injured. (Feeling like a guinea pig again?)

While children are not usually the ones doing the cleaning, preschool-age children are often near a caregiver who is using chemical cleaning products.  Here's a short list of some of the dangers associated with common household cleaning products:

• Air Freshener - toxic; may cause cancer; irritates nose, throat, and lungs.

• All-purpose cleaner - causes eye damage; irritates nose, throat, and lungs.

• Bleach - toxic by swallowing; vapors are harmful; causes central nervous system disorders.

• Carpet shampoo - toxic; may cause cancer; causes central nervous system and liver damage.

• Dishwasher detergent - toxic; causes eye injuries; damage to mucous membranes and throat.

• Dishwashing liquid - harmful if swallowed; irritates the skin.

• Disinfectant - very toxic; causes skin, throat, and lung burns; causes coma

• Drain cleaner - toxic; causes skin burns; causes liver and kidney damage

• Fabric softener - toxic; may cause cancer; causes central nervous system disorders; causes liver damage.

• Floor/Furniture polish - toxic; causes central nervous system disorders; may cause lung cancer.

• Laundry detergent - toxic; irritates the skin and lungs.

• Oven cleaner - toxic; causes skin, throat, and lung burns.

• Scouring powder (chlorinated) - toxic; highly irritating toS nose, throat, and lungs

• Spot remover - toxic; may cause cancer; causes liver damage.

• Stain Remover - toxic; may cause cancer; vapors can be fatal.

• Toilet bowl cleaner; very toxic; causes skin, nose, throat, and lung burns.

• Window cleaner - toxic; causes central nervous system disorders; causes liver and kidney disorders.

I was even more shocked to learn that manufacturers of these hazardous products are not required to list exact ingredients on the label!  You can't look at a label and be sure, for instance, that a mold and mildew cleaner doesn't contain pentachlorophenol, a substance that can kill.  Some products are protected by "trade secrets" -- not even the government, Poison Control Centers, or your doctor can find out what is in them when an antidote is needed.

Perhaps the most disturbing fact about cleaning products is that most of them can be harmful during use, even when you follow the instructions exactly, and mention of this danger isn't required by law.  Labeling only considers danger of ingestion.  Inhaling toxic fumes from these products may produce reactions such as headaches, fatigue, burning eyes, and runny noses.  Allowing cleaning products to touch bare skin on your hands not only produces skin rashes, it allows the toxic chemicals to go straight into your bloodstream.  Even if you don't have immediate symptoms, years later you or your children may suddenly get cancer, heart disease, lung problems, or damage to the liver or immune system, etc.

PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

Personal care products (PCC) are designed to be applied to the skin; we should be extra careful about the safety of these products.  Because everything applied to the skin eventually travels to every part of the body, you would think these products would be tested for safety according to regulations as strict as those for the food we eat.  Unfortunately, they are not.

Most personal care products are regulated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as "cosmetics," a category that includes anything that can be "rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on .. or otherwise applied to the human body ... for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance."

The law does not require that cosmetics be tested for safety before they are allowed to be sold.  The FDA can take action where harm has been done only after a product is on the market, and only after it has received enough consumer complaints and after enough evidence has been collected to prove in court that the product is hazardous.  Only then can the FDA halt its production and sale.

Unfortunately, these laws are designed to protect manufacturers, not consumers.  a shampoo, for example, may cause harm to you, your children, and hundred of others, and the FDA still cannot take the product off the market without a court order.  Meanwhile, other families are using the product and may also be harmed by it.

The FDA does require a complete listing of ingredients on the label of all cosmetic products made in the United States.  However, some commonly-used items that we think of as cosmetics are exempt from this labeling requirement.  Deodorant soaps, fluoridated toothpastes, antiperspirants, sunscreens, and antidandruff shampoos--the products with the most toxic ingredients--are all regulated as "drugs" because they claim to affect the body's structure or function and so are not required to list their ingredients on the label.

More than 3,000 different ingredients derived from Petro-chemicals or natural animal, vegetable, or mineral sources are used in cosmetic products.  At a government hearing in 1989, numerous cosmetologist testified about symptoms such as headaches, loss of balance, memory loss, asthma, and irreparable nervous system and respiratory problems as a result of working with cosmetics.  Because of these testimonies, a House subcommittee asked the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to analyze 2,983 chemicals used in personal care products.  the results are as follows:

• 884 of the chemicals were toxic

• 314 caused biological mutation

• 218 caused reproductive complications

• 778 caused acute toxicity

• 148 caused tumors

• 376 caused skin and eye irritations.²⁵

Here's a short list of some of the dangers associated with personal care products.

• Shampoo - may cause cancer; irritates eyes, skin and lungs.

• Dandruff shampoo - may cause cancer; causes organ degeneration; causes CNS disorders.

• Deodorant soap - may cause cancer; causes asthma; irritates lungs.

• Bubble bath - causes bladder and kidney infections; irritates skin and nose

• Mousse and Hair Spray - may cause cancer; causes lung disease; irritates eyes and skin.

• Mouthwash - toxic to children; may cause cancer.

• Breath Spray - may cause cancer.

• Cosmetics - may cause cancer; causes CNS damage; irritates skin and lungs.

• Perfume/cologne - toxic; may cause cancer; irritates skin and lungs; even just one accidental swallow could kill a child. 26, 18, 27

ABOUT AEROSOLS

Both cleaning and personal care products come in aerosol cans, which have their own dangers, in addition to the toxicity of the product inside them.  The propellant gases themselves are toxic.  Common symptoms from exposure include headaches, nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, eye and throat irritation, and skin rashes.  In the long term, exposure can cause heart problems, birth defects, lung cancer, lung inflammation, and liver damage.  If misdirected, aerosol sprays can cause chemical burns and eye injury.

The American Lung Association warns against the use of aerosol sprays for people with existing lung conditions such as asthma.  This would be a particular concern for children with lung problems, since their lung capacity is smaller, and their lungs would be irritated than an adult's by the same exposure to the aerosol.

Given that most products that come in aerosol cans also come in a pump-spray or other device for application, my recommendation is:  do not have aerosol cans in the house at all, especially if you have children.

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE

If you aren't yet convinced that cleaning and personal care products are harmful to your health and to the health of your children, consider this:  many cleaning and personal care products are legally defined as "household hazardous waste." Yes, hazardous waste.  According to the San Francisco Household Hazardous Waste Program, these household products, and others, are hazardous waste:

• Ammonia cleaners

• Chlorine bleach

• Cleansers

• Disinfectants

• Drain openers

• Furniture and floor polish

• Lye

• Metal polish

• Oven cleaner

• Rug cleaners

• Tub, tile, and shower stall cleaners

• Dry-cleaning solvent

• Mothballs and flakes

• Spot remover

• Cuticle remover

• Depilatory cream

• Hair-permanent solution

• Hair-straightener solution

• Nail polis

• Nail polish remover

Our government does not allow us to throw these items in the trash and send them to the landfill because they are hazardous materials.  Many communities have established special Household Hazardous Waste Pick-up Days to collect these products and place them in special toxic-waste dumps.  So why, oh why, are we using these products in our homes and around our children, especially when there are safer products available.

11.  Echobichon DJ and Stevens DD. "Perinatal Development of Human Blood Esterases." Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 1973;14:41-47.

12.  Landrigan PJ, Carlson JE, Bearer CF, Crammer JS, Bullard RD, Etzel RA, Groopman J, McLachlan JA, Perea FP, Reigart JR, Robison L, Schell L, Suk WA. "Children's Health and the Environment:  A New Agenda for Prevention Research." Environmental Health Perspectives 106 Supplement 3:787-794 (June 1998)

13.  Bearer CF. "Environmental Health Hazards:  How Children Are Different From Adults." Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995;5(2):11-26

14.  Landrigan PJ and Carlson JE. "Environmental Policy and Children's Health." Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995;5(2): 34-52

15.  Mindy Pennybacker and Aisha Ikramuddin, "Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet Guide to Natural Baby Care" (John Wiley & Sons, 1999)

16.  National Center for Health Statistics, 1997

17.  http://www.checnet.org

18.  John Harte, Toxics A to Z (University of California Press 1991)

19.  Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development

20.  Dr. Doris Rapp, "Is This Your Child?"

21.  N. Ashford and C. Miller, Chemical Exposures, Low Levels and high Stakes (van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991)

22.  Sherry Rogers, Chemical Sensitivity (Keats Publishing, Inc 1994)

23.  Theo Colborn, J. P. Myers and Dianne Dumanoski, Our Stolen Future (Viking Penguin, 1996)

24.  http://www.birthdefects.org/absracts/edcs.html

25.  Judith Burns, "The Cosmetic Cover-up," Human Ecologist (Fall 1989)

26.  Debra Lynn Dadd, Home Safe Home

27.  The National Safe Kids Campaign, Poisoning.