How To Tell If Your Chemical Cleaning Products Are Harmful

 It's one thing to say, "Just check the box!" when it comes to picking an eco friendly cleaning agent, but how do you know what you're looking at? Here are a list of ingredients you might encounter and the potential effects they might have. With this information you should be able to make a more informed decision when it comes to choosing which Chemical Cleaning Products to buy.

Butyl Cellosolve.

This ingredient isn't very common, but you should keep your eye out for it nonetheless as it can be potentially quite harmful. You should be careful when purchasing cheap window and bathroom cleaners - usually from discount stores and bargain supermarkets. Butyl cellosolve is rumoured to cause damage to the nervous system with prolonged exposure.

Phenols.

This is a chemical which is found in just about every cleaning product and it can be extremely difficult to avoid. In just about every antibacterial cleaner you encounter, you'll see phenols on the ingredients list. While not obviously dangerous, if a large amount of phenols is inhaled or consumed in can lead to all manner of problems, from skin irritation through to severe headaches. There's no need to really avoid products with phenols in them, but make sure you use them with caution and care.

Diethylene Glycol.

This one will crop up in most window or shiny surface cleaners you encounter. Again, this one might a difficult one to avoid, but if you do use a product which contains diethylene glycol it's extremely important to make sure you don't ingest it or contaminate the environment with it too much - particularly at home. If consumed, diethylene glycol can be lethal in some cases.

Formaldehyde.

This is one of the chemicals on the list you might well recognise. It's found in a lot of household chemicals such as furniture polish, air fresheners and carpet cleaners. It's not harmful when used responsibly, but it has been known to cause cancer in some instances when there is a lot of exposure.

All things considered, you should be perfectly fine using cleaning products 'off the shelf' so long as you do so responsibly and don't over-use them. In any case, it's extremely helpful to know these chemicals and exactly what they're capable of before making a purchase. Different people have different sensitivities when exposed to certain things; these can manifest as allergies or something a lot more serious so it's always best to be careful.