Buy Cleaning Products? A New Law Has Your Back
NRDC
Corey Binns
November 27, 2017
“Having this information can help people make better decisions to protect their health not only day to day but also over the long term. Some chemicals found in cleaners, like benzene, can cause cancer and birth defects; others—notably, a class known as phthalates, often found in dish detergent—can disrupt hormones. Pregnant women, young children, and cancer survivors are at especially high risk from these products.
NRDC joined forces with the Environmental Working Group, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, and Women’s Voices for the Earth to cosponsor the bill. Nine out of ten domestic workers and housekeepers are women, and most are Latina or African American. But very little of the research on the harms of the chemicals lurking in cleaning products trickles down to housecleaners and other domestic workers, notes Nancy Zuniga of the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California.”
