Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Working Group Cleaners Hall of Shame
unearths compelling evidence that common household cleaners, including
some hyped as “safe” or “natural,” can inflict serious harm on unwary
users.
Many present severe risks to children who may ingest or spill them or breathe their fumes.
“Cleaning your home can come at a high price – cancer-causing chemicals in the air, an asthma
attack from fumes or serious skin burns from an accidental spill,” said
Jane Houlihan, EWG senior vice president for research and co-author of
the EWG Cleaners Hall of Shame. “Almost any ingredient is legal and
almost none of them are labeled, leaving families at risk. Our Hall of
Shame products don’t belong in the home.”
The EWG Cleaners Hall of Shame is excerpted from the comprehensive
EWG Cleaners Database project, due for publication in fall 2012.
EWG’s research has turned up products loaded with toxic compounds
banned in some countries. Some ingredients are known to cause cancer,
blindness, asthma and other serious conditions. Others are greenwashed,
meaning that they are not, as their ad hype claims, environmentally
benign. Still more hide the facts about their formulations behind vague
terms like “fragrance.”
Among the worst offenders:
• Mop & Glo Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner contains methoxydiglycol
(DEGME), which is "suspected of damaging the unborn child" by the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe. DEGME levels in this product
are up to 15 times higher than allowed in the European Union.
• Tarn-X tarnish remover contains up to 7 percent thiourea, which is
categorized as a carcinogen by the state of California. The National
Toxicology Program, an interagency federal group, says that thiourea is
"reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen."
• Simple Green Concentrated All-Purpose Cleaner claims to be
“non-toxic” but contains 2-butoxyethanol, a solvent absorbed through the
skin that irritates eyes and may damage red blood cells. This
concentrated product is sold in a ready-to-use spray bottle despite
instructions to dilute, even for heavy cleaning.
• Mystery mixtures such as Target’s Up & Up and Walmart’s Great Value brands, whose product labels offer little or no ingredient information.
Other products cited for hidden hazards:
-- Conventional oven cleaners with sodium or potassium hydroxide that can burn skin, lungs and eyes.
-- Spray cleaners with quaternary ammonium compounds or ethanolamine,
chemicals that can trigger asthma attacks and can cause new cases of the
disease in people who are asthma-free.
Though many Americans assume that government bodies oversee the
safety of the multi-billion-dollar household cleaning products industry,
it is largely unregulated. Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) introduced the
Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2011 which would require cleaning
products makers to list ingredients on the product labels while also
maintaining comprehensive, up-to-date lists of ingredients on their
websites in multiple languages.
The EWG Cleaners Database aims to fill this information gap in order
to give people straight facts developed by independent scientists. Now
under construction, this ground-breaking initiative aims to uncover the
truth about toxic chemicals in common household products on the American
market and to empower consumers to make smart choices. Its publication
will mark the first comprehensive independent scientific analysis of
toxic chemicals in more than 2,000 cleaning products and 200 brands.
The EWG Cleaners Hall of Shame offers tips to consumers to help them
avoid the most hazardous products and find safer alternatives.
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