Cleaning products are a billion dollar industry and something I am fairly familiar with. My background is in chemical engineering and I understand how many of these products are made. This leads to the promotion of profits over safety. Chemical Toxicity is an important topic and one where the information is always being updated with more studies and findings. WaterPro is teamed up with a toxicologist who is very upfront about the differences in chemical toxicity.
The most common toxicity in cleaning environments has to do with the vapors. All organic vapors have an exposure limit and often times those exposure limits are not considered for the cleaning crew. While PPE does a great job of reducing exposure, the only way to eliminate the exposure opportunity is by removing the opportunity by using a safer chemistry. All chemicals have certain toxicities which sometimes effects animals differently than humans. The toxicity of the entire environment should be considered as much as possible. Often times chemicals are disposed of in a manner that is harmful to the source which can cause a significant reduction in populations of certain species of organism.
While sometimes acids are needed to clean certain surfaces, in many cases an organic acid such as vinegar can be used. Soft water is one of the most overlooked items in my cleaning tool kit. When cleaning a polymer processing machine, employees would use very strong vinegar. I used R/O water to show them they could clean the rollers without any chemical because the water dissolves the particles so easily because it has <10 PPM Total Solids. We were buying vinegar that was causing the machine to corrode. Instead the water was a much faster and safer solution to the equipment.
Toxicity in chemicals is something that is near to my heart. My grandmother worked in a factory that used Ethylene Oxide as a disinfectant for medical supplies. She died 10 years before I was born, she was in her 40s. There are numerous reports of the use of this chemical in her department. So I have found a much safer disinfectant that works in the vapor phase. This chemical has a very similar molecular structure, but is much safer for humans and animals.
Toxicity is present in our drinking water today. Mainly caused by politics, and lack of education. THM and HAA are known carcinogens which are commonly measured in drinking water across the country. This toxic chemical isn't found in the source water, this is the result of a reaction with chlorine. So while the EPA mandates disinfection, most take the easy route and use some form of chlorine, which always results in THM and HAA depending on the length of the water pipe is the extent of the toxicity.
I just recently learned that I could do something about this THM issue. I am very excited about what the future holds for TwinOxide in the US. We deserve so much better than what we get from standard cleaning products, and only companies like the IJCSA Green Certified services are doing the work for the customer of understanding the toxicity and providing safe and environmental friendly solutions for the daily cleaning task.