Chemicals from household cleaners found in breast milk samples, what parents should know
While parents are exposed to quats (short for “quaternary ammonium compounds”) from numerous sources, the researchers found that the use of disinfecting products at home related to how much showed up in breast milk.
5 Questions to Ask Your School About Their Disinfecting Products
Wondering how to go about asking your school to quit the quats and use safer alternatives? Here are 5 important questions to get the conversation started and find solutions to help your school make the switch to safer.
Back to School Lessons: Avoiding Disinfectant Wipes with Quats
One thing you can usually find on back to school supply lists is disinfectant wipes that often contain pesticides like ammonium quaternary compounds (or quats) linked to asthma, reproductive harm & more.
Your Top Blog Posts of 2020!
Recapping WVE’s most popular blog posts of 2020! This past year over 350,000 people visited our Voices Blog for tips, updates and insight into ways you can raise your voice for a toxic-free future.
Toxic cleaners pose new risks as schools reopen
E&E News By Ariel Wittenberg Environmental health experts warn that relying too heavily on disinfectants to prevent the spread of infection could actually create more... Read More
How to Search for Disinfectants on the EPA List N
Want to know if your disinfectant is using safer ingredients and is approved by the EPA to use against COVID-19? Check out this how-to video!
Women’s Health Organization Cautions Educators About Harmful Exposures to Toxic Chemicals in Disinfectants
To help prevent the overuse and the misuse of disinfectants in schools, Women’s Voices for the Earth has released a toolkit for parents and guardians on how to talk to educators about safer alternatives. The toolkit includes a comprehensive list of EPA-certified safer disinfectants to combat COVID-19 that use active ingredients like hydrogen peroxide instead of toxic quats. But beyond disinfectants, the toolkit also highlights how to use these products safely, and stresses the importance and effectiveness of hand-washing for keeping kids healthy.
Women’s Health Organization Calls for The Clorox Company to Quit Toxic ‘Quats’ in Disinfecting Products
Environmental health non-profit, Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE), is raising concerns about the use of antibacterial chemicals commonly found in disinfecting products like wipes, sprays, and all-purpose cleaners. Registered as pesticides with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ammonium quaternary compounds — or “quats” — are linked to adverse health effects including asthma, dermatitis, reproductive harm, and the spread of antimicrobial resistance bacteria, often referred to as “super-bugs”.
As a major manufacturer of disinfecting products, WVE is calling on The Clorox Company to be a leader in product safety and eliminate quats from their products.
Quats and Back-To-School: What You Need to Know
Parents and teachers concerned with grimy fingers and germ-laden desks often include disinfecting wipes on back-to-school shopping lists. But certain chemicals in many disinfecting wipes are linked to negative health effects. Learn more!
Lysol’s “Healthing” Campaign Misleads Moms
Those potentially harmful chemicals in the disinfectant are actually no more effective than plain old soap and water.
