Image courtesy of Michelle Meiklejohn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Did you ever stop to think that a bathroom is one of the most polluted rooms in your home? And it’s not because of the bacteria.
Bathrooms are easily filled with hazardous cleaning fumes. Even though most cleaning products for bathrooms should be used in well-ventilated spaces, most bathrooms are anything but well-ventilated.
Bathroom cleaners are particularly dangerous because they contain extremely harsh chemicals that are able to kill living things, like mold. Yet the cleaners don’t stop at killing mold – they also harm other living things, like people.
Last week I shared that oven cleaners were one of the most hazardous cleaners available – but the other two dangers are corrosive drain cleaners and toilet bowl cleaners.
EWG’s safe cleaner ratings
When the Environmental Working Group recently rated the safety of bathroom cleaners, more than half failed. (Typically I’ll let a C-rated product slide in my home, but in the case of bathroom cleaners, only 24 percent were awarded an A, B, or C rating. Nineteen percent received Ds and 57 percent received Fs.)
Because so many products received Fs (123, to be exact) it’s impossible for me to detail the dangerous ingredients in one post. Please check the products on your own.
Like my past posts on the safety of shampoos, toothpastes, and styling products, I’ve been surprised by some of the safe products.
Some of the acceptable products are obvious, like certain varieties from Seventh Generation, Ecover and Mrs. Meyers. But specific Lysol products also are safe. (Many other Lysol products failed because of toxic ingredients.) Other stereotypically “safe” products – like method – flunked.
Bottom line
Unless you follow EWG’s guide, there’s no way a typical consumer can walk into a store and pick out a safe product on a whim. The good news is there are plenty of safe options – but you have to know exactly what you’re looking for.
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