Technical Information

Considerations on Chemical Toxicity of Products

Many of the leading national brands of disinfectants (whether they are used for cleaning or not) contain chemicals that present a number of potential hazards. Children are especially susceptible to chemical exposure. A closer look at the issues behind chemical safety reveals the following:

• Acute Hazards: Products used in our everyday lives can have short-term affects on health. For example, exposure to certain levels of quaternary ammonium chlorides, sodium hypochlorites (bleach), glutaraldehydes, and other common chemicals can cause a wide range of adverse health affects, ranging from immediate, acute dangers such as poisoning, skin and eye irritation, to dizziness, and headaches.
• Chronic Hazards: Everyday products can also have effects after repeated long-term use. Long-term effects include respiratory problems, causes multiple chemical sensitivity, genotoxicity, and reproductive damage.
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS): MCS is a chronic condition that presents itself through sensitivities to everyday chemicals that are inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin. Chemically sensitive patients are chemically overloaded, having exceeded their capacity to process chemicals and have abnormally heightened immune response to chemicals. Frequently, MCS syndrome is misdiagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome because they share similar symptoms.
• Asthma and Allergy Suffers: The EPA rates indoor air quality among the top five threats to human health. Americans spend up to 90% of their time indoors. Asthma and allergies are exacerbated by poor indoor air quality. The EPA reports that in the United States approximately 20 million people suffer from asthma and of these 6.3 million are children. Asthma leads to 2 million emergency room visits, nearly half a million hospitalizations at a cost of almost $2 billion and causing 14 million missed school days per year. In 2000, health care costs and lost productivity totaled $14 billion. Twenty percent of the U.S. population spend their days in our elementary and secondary schools. In the mid-1990's, studies show that 1 in 5 of our nation's 110,000 schools reported unsatisfactory indoor quality, and 1 in 4 schools reported ventilation as unsatisfactory. Students are at greater risk because of the hours spent in school facilities and because children are especially susceptible to pollutants. Allergies affect nearly 20% of Americans and are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States costing the health care system $18 billion annually. There has been a notable increase in the commonness of allergies in the past decades. One of the theories is the exponential use and abuse of chemicals and the reduction in indoor air quality.

Issues such as these illustrate the necessity of chemical safety in our lives, the places we work, and the facilities where we seek medical attention. Chemical safety is a universal concern.