When it comes to the products you use to clean your home daily, it's best to steer away from toxic chemicals that could pose harm to you and your family.
Conventional all-purpose cleaners
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Cleaners that are tasked with the job of cutting through sticky, stuck-on messes and grease usually contain glycol ethers, a type of petrochemicals that can enter our bloodstream by penetrating our skin (even if you're wearing gloves) or through inhalation, warns Ashleigh Frager, founder of Back to Basics, a website that supports green living. "Glycol ethers have been known to cause fatigue, lethargy, nausea, and possible liver and kidney damage—and other chemicals in cleaners have been known to cause immediate acute symptoms like headaches, sneezing, eye redness, stomach pain or nausea, and skin irritation." The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) backs Frager up, though notes that health problems result from chronic and/or exposure to high levels. To protect yourself, Frager recommends using a cleaner that's free of glycol ethers but still works well to get rid of any stubborn messes. Try these homemade cleaners that really work.
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Bleach
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Chlorine, the main component of bleach, is a chemical in the halogen family, which also includes iodine, explains Courtney Sperlazza, MPH, epidemiologist, biostatistician, and experiential content editor at Bulletproof. "Excessive exposure to chlorine can interfere with iodine absorption in the thyroid gland, which over time can cause thyroid disease," she says. (This was borne out in some animal studies.) For this reason, she recommends that people with known thyroid disorders and iodine deficiency be especially careful to avoid bleach. For household cleaning, she suggests using a paste of baking soda and water to handle tough jobs and adding vinegar to your laundry as a whitener.
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13 Most Toxic Spring Cleaning Products—and What to Buy Instead, Source:https://www.rd.com/home/cleaning-organizing/most-toxic-spring-cleaning-products/
