Common House-hold Cleaners: the Deadly Facts

Fact: In your laundry room there is at least one hazardous product. If you have laundry detergent, bleach, stain removers or fabric softeners in your laundry room then you have products on hand that are hazardous. These products are regular household cleaners yet they are easy to get too. The side effects of coming in contact or ingesting these products are chocking, vomiting, burns and possibly death. Children often mistake laundry detergent powders as sugar. Never leave your child alone with any of these products!

Fact: The all-purpose household cleaners we love cause the highest amount of poisonings because they are the easiest to get too. Usually stored under a kitchen sink that is not locked. Even if your cabinets are locked children can and will find ways to get into it. It will slow children down but may not stop them so find a good high area to store your cleaners.

Fact: Antibacterial soap and regular soap can cause choking and vomiting if swallowed. "I'll wash your mouth out with soap!" is no longer a good line to tell our children. Soaps especially antibacterial and scented ones have chemicals added to them that are harmful.

Fact: Toilet Bowl cleaners can cause skin and eye burns. The chemical combinations to make this product often contain bleaches and acids.

Fact: Oven Cleaners are poisonious! These products often contain lye which is sodium hydroxide, a harmful chemical. This product causes eye burns, irritations and is poisonious. There are alternatives to using an oven cleaner. Most ovens are self-cleaning today!

Fact: Furniture polish can be fatal if swallowed. Furniture polish is another everyday cleaner we use around the house. The product normally contains petroleum distillates. This item should be stored up high where children will not reach it.

Fact: Drain Openers cause burns and skin irritations if touched. They can also be fatal if swallowed. Often Drain Openers are made with lye, bleach and/or sulfuric acid. This nasty combination should be kept far away from children.

All of these facts pertain to one or more household cleaning items you may have at home. There are safer methods to use than a chemical based household cleaner. Here are some suggestions:

For Laundry:
Baking Soda or Borax. Both of these products clean and deodorize once mixed with water. It is a much safer alternative than some of the products on the market today.

All-Purpose Cleaner:
White Vinegar. This product is good for dishes, laundry, getting stains out of carpets and clearing drains. A few new products that are earth friendly are Ecover Natural Scrub and Planet All Purpose Cleaner. These are a safer alternative.

Soap:
Plain soap. This is safe since it is biodegradable and also non-toxic!

Toilet- Bowl Cleaners:
To find a safer product check the label! Find a non-acidic product with the label marked warning or caution. If it says DANGER, do not use it.

Oven Cleaners:
Prevent messes before they start. Use aluminium foil on the bottom rack to catch spills. Also if you wipe up messes before they cake on its easier to clean.

Furniture Polish:
Try using vegetable oil or mineral oil. These are much safer to use than petroleum based products. You may even want to try lemon oil or lemon juice as they work well too.

Drain Openers:
Pour a kettle of boiling hot water down the drain! This should help clear up the clog. If this does not work try using a plunger, plunge the drain then run water through. If this does not work try a plumbers snake. If all of these do not work, it is time to call the plumber!

It is truly sad that so many of the product we like to use in our everyday life can cause such harm. There are safer solutions so please try to adopt them in your life. The statistics are very scary in today's world. Here are some from http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/:

-79% of all poison control center cases involve children with 64% occuring in children under age 5.
-Nationally, during the year 2000, 1.2 million children under age 5 were exposed to potentially poisonous substances.
-An estimated 70 percent of accidental poisonings are preventable.

Please lock up your chemical based cleaners or try to find more eco and home friendly products. It is worth your time to do this. Make these stastics stop where they are! Lets not loose another life to a preventable accident!