12/21/2021
Cleaning With Bleach? 7 Reasons Why You Should Stop NOW!
Bleach is a highly hazardous chemical, and it can be found in many cleaning supplies, including toilet cleaners and toilet stain removers. Many of us use these products without realizing the potentially harmful effects they can have on anyone exposed including your children!
Here are 7 reasons why using bleach to clean can be dangerous and should be avoided will help you keep your home safe.
1. Bleach Can Be Dangerous for Children
No, we are not talking about swallowing bleach.Bleach can have adverse effects on children who simply live in a household where it is often used to clean. When you use bleach as a cleaning agent, bleach remains on surfaces and continues to emit fumes. Recent studies have revealed that children who have had exposure to bleach in their homes are more likely to suffer from respiratory illness, asthma and allergies.
2- Bleach Can Turn Vinegar Into Poison
Not only is bleach harmful on its own, but its interactions with other commonly used chemicals can produce harmful reactions.
For instance, when bleach comes in contact with ammonia, it can react to form chlorine gas, which causes cellular damage in the nasal passageways and lungs. The accidental mixture of these two products has resulted in death. Chlorine gas can also form when bleach reacts with acids, such as vinegar.
3- Bleach Harms You
The more you use chlorine bleach, the more you put yourself and your family in danger with its harmful ramifications on the body. Inhaling bleach causes damage to your lungs and organs. After accidentally inhaling the fumes, some individuals have reported feeling stinging in their nose and eyes, coughing, and lightheadedness, all of which are symptoms that indicate the corrosive properties of the substance.
Additionally, chlorine-based bleach can damage your skin and eyes. If left on skin, bleach can cause irritation and burning. Over very long periods of time, the chemical’s presence on skin can lighten skin pigment and permanently damage tissue.
If bleach gets in your eye, it can have serious consequences. Your eye will become incredibly irritated and painful, and can suffer permanent tissue and vision damage if not completely rinsed out. And yes, w are talking about so called safe diluted bleach.
4. Cleaning With Bleach Can Hurt Your Pets
Household bleach can be very harmful for cats, dogs, and other pets. While they generally won’t ingest the substance intentionally due to the potent smell, cleaning with bleach can inadvertently expose your animals.
The products you utilize to clean your floors or wash your bedding can stay on a pet’s paws or fur. Cats and dogs often lick themselves, which can then cause them to ingest the harmful chemicals. Due to their small size, birds can become sick upon inhaling only a small amount of the fumes. Bleach poisoning in pets can result in vomiting, convulsions, and sometimes death.
5. Bleach Puts the Environment at Risk
Once released in the water, bleach reacts with other chemicals to form, among other products, dioxins. Dioxins are known to be highly dangerous toxins that can have serious impacts on health. Bleach also puts wildlife at risk; its byproducts have been linked to cancer in studies on laboratory animals. Environmental toxins created by bleach have lowered the populations of several species of birds and fish.
Bleach is especially damaging to the environment because it lingers for many years. Even small amounts of the toxic chemical can accumulate in air and water over time, which can eventually result in adverse health effects.
6- Cleaning with Bleach Can Release Harmful Airborne Particles
Because bleach and products containing limonene are often used in the same indoor spaces, researchers from the University of Toronto and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania studied what happens when these chemicals combined and found out that during and after the use of bleach-based cleaners, high amounts of hypochlorous acid and chlorine gases can quickly build up in poorly ventilated indoor environments. Upon exposure to fluorescent light or sunlight, these compounds reacted to form secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) which are fine particles that are also a major component of smog. When particles are small enough, they can travel deep into the lungs and can also enter the bloodstream through the lungs.
Regular exposure to particulate matter is linked to heart attacks and breathing difficulties.
Use of chlorine bleach-containing products in cleaning activities can release volatile organic compounds — such as chloroform and carbon tetrachloride — which may pose a carcinogenic risk to public health.
7- Alternatives to Bleach Can Be Just as Effective
Many alternative cleaning products are free of bleach and can clean your home just as effectively To clean the plastic surfaces of electronics, rub alcohol.
- To disinfect surfaces, use Hydrogen peroxide that is a nontoxic substance.
- To freshen fabrics, eliminate grease, and clean glass use Baking soda and white vinegar.
- Do not under estimate the cleaning power of soap and water.
- To get rid of rust stains, try Pulitamin. It doesn't release any chemicals, doesn't release any fregnance, and its prevents rust from forming for 6 months.
Using bleach to clean your home puts you, your children, and your pets at risk. Think twice before using it the next time!
Sources: https://learn.compactappliance.com and https://www.healthline.com
