Growing up in more rural areas, it was just accustomed to go to the local store and grab whatever cleaner is on the shelf. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list? More and more harmful chemicals are placed on shelves in local markets and as consumers we just purchase it. But what if we started to look into the makeup of how dangerous these chemicals we use in every day life are. 

While being accustomed to using these chemicals we start to notice an increase in allergies or difficulty breathing or a increase in heart rate. These adverse effects can be from the cleaners you use in your home. Often times aerosols emit chemicals into the air affects our respiratory system and our vision, thus polluting the air in our homes. Do you know the smell from your new mattress? It's formaldehyde and pollutes our air just by opening the plastic! It is also a carcinogen and respiratory irritant. 

Green cleaners are typically are made of more natural ingredients. Lemon juice, vinegar, or even baking soda are great examples of non toxic cleaners that we can use in our everyday lives. The acidity in the lemon juice makes for a great cleaner and disinfectant. Vinegar is used to remove grease or wax and baking soda is a natural odor eliminator and can be used as a non abrasive cleaner. 

Regular household cleaners may use some of the same natural properties but also have extra additives that directly effect our health over time. A more common household cleaner is bleach. Bleach itself is corrosive and in higher concentrates provides more risk. But bleach also pollutes the air around us and can cause respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Bleach contains sodium hypochlorite which is a common to cause issues when mixing with other chemicals specifically ammonia. When these products are mixed they can sometimes form chlorine gas which is also a bioweapon. 

As can be deducted, more natural cleaning products pose less risk to our everyday health and the environment around us. When we continue to use cleaners that can harm us we stand the potential to destroy our health and the community around us. Its time to start thinking green when you clean. To help find this in your community you can always look to the IJCSA cleaning service directory for all your green cleaning services at the website below. 

https://www.ijcsa.org/Find-A-Cleaning-Service-Janitorial-Service

http://www.lung.org/clean-air/at-home/indoor-air-pollutants/cleaning-supplies-household-chem

https://www.osfhealthcare.org/blog/natural-cleaners/

https://www.advap.com/blogs/news/is-bleach-toxic