Cleaning News U Can Use: March 2009
Cleaning Products Could be Harmful to Your Health
In the past decade or so there have been some vocal claims by numerous health groups that claim that cleaning supplies contain harmful chemicals. The claims have mostly been that the chemicals in many common household cleaners make children, in particular, sick, and cause fertility problems in women. There have been no definitive studies to prove or disprove these hypotheses. But a new UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) study, released in the winter of 2009, brings to the public some of the most compelling evidence yet that common household products, some of which include cleaning products, can cause fertility problems in women, including delays in ability to conceive. In fact, the US Center for Disease Control reports that about 8% of women in the US have gone to their doctor for fertility-related problems.
The study looked at a specific chemical called Perfluiorinated chemicals or PFCs. Two specific types of PFCs were looked at: PFOA and PFOS, which are ingredients in common household products including upholstery, pesticides, shampoos and more. The blood from about 1,200 newly pregnant women was analyzed and the results showed that these chemicals do affect women and fertility. Of course, it is important to keep in mind that, as with any new study, caution with the results should be taken as more research needs to be done to further validate the results.
The results were that women with higher levels of these chemicals were all women who had taken longer: mostly six or more months to become pregnant. There was a clear difference between the two groups of women in terms of chemical levels and ability to conceive. Those who got pregnant easily had very low levels of the chemicals.
These results could be alarming to for some. There are simple steps you can take to prevent extended exposure to these chemicals. It is impossible to prevent contact with PFCs, as they are in nearly everything we are surrounded by. But a good place to start is to try to buy shampoos without it (which can be done by purchasing all-natural ingredient shampoos) or by using more natural cleaning products. Using natural cleaning products does not mean that you have to spend a lot of money on fancy products. There are many inexpensive natural cleaning products that you probably have right in your home, such as lemons, vinegar and baking soda. Learn more about natural cleaning products.
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