The Dirt on Cleaning Products: Take Action!
MomsRising
Cassidy Randall
September 14, 2010
Did you know that chemicals commonly used in cleaning products have been linked to breast cancer, fertility problems, hormone disruption, asthma, and other serious health impacts? And here’s the scary part: no law requires cleaning product companies to disclose their ingredients, so you can’t look on the label to avoid harmful chemicals if you wish to.
Studies show that although gender roles have changed over time, women are still doing more than 70% of the housework in the average home, meaning that we’re more exposed to hidden toxic chemicals in cleaning products. Children are also disproportionately exposed to chemicals in cleaners because their organs and immune systems are not yet fully developed, and certain chemicals may interfere with the development of their neurological, endocrine and immune systems. This is why Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) is calling on the industry to make cleaners safe for women and our families. And today we have a great opportunity to get their attention.
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI)—which represents major cleaning product companies like Clorox (Formula 409®, Pine-Sol®), Procter & Gamble (Tide®, Dawn®), and SC Johnson & Son (Windex®, Fantastik®)—is holding their annual meeting this week.
The American public deserves to know what is in all the products they use. Don’t you want to know?
Excellent movement, WVE! Thanks for making it so easy to take important action; it was a true pleasure to be involved with so many smart, focused women (and a few men) making sure that ACI hears our voices! I look forward to similar future actions/causes!
Please make products safe. If your intentions are to use the world as one huge research laboratory in quest for profit, I guess you’ve more than enough information now to draw the conclusion that many fragranced cleaning products are downright harmful. O.K. they may be good for keeping doctors and pharma companies in business but indisputably poor for any living creature with a pulse.