Household cleaning products, both conventional and ecological, release hundreds of potentially harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may be contaminating the air in your home for days, weeks or months. This is clear from a study reviewed by scientists from the Environmental Working Group (EWG, an American activist group that specializes in research into toxic chemicals and pollutants) published today in the specialized journal Chemosphere.
The researchers tested and analyzed 30 cleaning products - from air fresheners to glass cleaners, stain removers, carpet cleaners, bathroom cleaners, wood cleaners... - and detected in them a total of 530 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), of which 193 They are identified as potentially dangerous by the European Chemicals Agency due to their impact on health because they have been linked to damage to the respiratory system, development and reproduction, or an increased risk of cancer.
"All but one product (which was an eco-friendly, fragrance-free all-purpose cleaner) had detectable levels of VOCs," explain the study's authors, who emphasize that their results are consistent with previous work that found that "the products emit hundreds of VOCs." most of which are not listed on ingredient labels.
But although all the products (except one) released dangerous chemicals, they did not do so in the same quantities or concentrations. According to the EWG study, those labeled as “green” or ecological emit less VOCs than conventional cleaners (half, on average), and ecological ones that are also “fragrance-free,” even less. Specifically, organic products without fragrance produce eight times less VOC emissions than conventional products and four times less than organic products with odor.
And this pattern is repeated when what is measured is the amount of VOCs considered dangerous to health. On average, unscented green cleaners emitted only four, compared to 15 in scented green cleaners and 22 in conventional ones.
"This study is a wake-up call for consumers, researchers and regulators to be more aware of the potential risks associated with the many chemicals entering indoor air," said Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at EWG, in presenting it.
And he stressed that the results observed indicate that one way to reduce exposure to dangerous chemicals is to select ecological and fragrance-free products for cleaning our homes or workplaces.
“We knew that the general population is exposed to these chemicals because we detect them in biomarkers, but we do not have much information about the sources of where these harmful compounds that we detect in blood and urine come from, and studies like this are very useful to know what products have more or less concentration and pose more or less risk to health,” says ISGlobal researcher Léa Maitre, who works to identify the presence of these compounds in the body and their impact on health.
As an example, he points out that previous studies had detected glycol ether metabolites in at least 90% of urine samples from pregnant women (in the PELAGIE 2002-2006 cohort) and some of the compounds detected in cleaning products. domestic products are precisely glycol ethers, which could explain the massive exposure of the population to them.
Different investigations have associated exposure to these compounds with worse lung function and a greater risk of asthma, and with effects on neurodevelopment when exposure occurs during pregnancy or at very early ages.
Precisely for this reason, an international research team of which Maitre is a part is now carrying out a study to measure the presence of more than 100 chemical compounds from everyday products in the urine and blood of children from six European countries (including a group of Barcelona and Sabadell) and then analyze what impact they have on their development and behavioral disorders.
"We are not exposed to a single substance but to a cocktail of compounds, and we have the hypothesis that these chemicals impact the brain; that is why we are measuring the concentration in the blood and urine of a hundred of them in children and then studying the impact about their health," summarizes the expert from ISGlobal, a center promoted by the "la Caixa" Foundation.
And he agrees with EWG experts that replacing cleaning products with those that have been shown to have fewer hazardous substances (eco-friendly and fragrance-free) is an easy way to reduce personal exposure to toxins. "As a general indicator, the less smell a product has, the better," emphasizes Maitre.
In their study, EWG researchers explain that VOCs present in cleaning products affect air quality both indoors and outdoors, although they pollute between 2 and 5 times more indoors and emit these pollutants for days, weeks and even months.
