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While you may take great lengths to protect yourself and your family from obvious poisons like rodent killers, chlorine bleach and antifreeze, there are many others, many of them household products, that can harm your health without warning.
The following products emit fumes that are best off avoided, and, should you decide to use them, should be used with extreme caution, only in well-ventilated areas and for as short a duration as possible.
1. Oven Cleaner
Dangerous ingredients: Ethers, ethylene glycol, lye (sodium and potassium hydroxide), methylene chloride, petroleum distillates, pine oil
Health hazards: It is hard to avoid breathing in vapors when using oven cleaner. The product is corrosive to skin and eyes, and, when inhaled, to internal organs.
Safety/Alternatives: Your best bet is to opt for a self-cleaning oven so oven cleaners are not necessary. You can cut down on their need also by putting a foil-lined cookie sheet under foods to catch drippings, and cleaning spots right after the oven cools (before baking them on again). If you use oven cleaner, be sure to use heavy rubber gloves, an apron and chemical splash goggles.
2. Oil-Based Paint
Dangerous ingredients: Alkyl resin, kerosene, lead, lithopone, mercury, methylene chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, mineral spirits, toluene, trichoroethane, xylene
Health hazards: There are 300 toxic chemicals and 150 carcinogens potentially present in oil-based paint, according to a John Hopkins University study. Vapors easily accumulate in closed spaces while painting. The fumes are toxic irritants to the eyes, skin and lungs.
Safety/Alternatives: When using oil-based paint, use a brush or roller rather than a sprayer and make sure ventilation is adequate. Alternatively, look for latex water-based paints or low-volatility paints (they have fewer toxic solvents).
3. Shoe Polish
Dangerous ingredients: Methylene chloride, mineral spirits, nitrobenzene, silicones, trichloroethylene
Health hazards: Toxic ingredients are easily absorbed through the skin or inhaled via the vapors, causing potential harm to the skin and other organs.
Safety/Alternatives: Use the polishes that wipe on, rather than spray on. You can also look for less toxic products made from beeswax. For leather, try olive oil or cold-pressed nut oil, buffed with a cloth until shiny.
4. Household Bug Foggers (”Bug Bombs”)
Dangerous ingredients: Isobutane, N-Octyl bicycloheptene dicarboximide, pyrethrum, permethrin, aromatic petroleum distillates
Health hazards: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated permethrin as a potential human carcinogen. Other harmful ingredients in these pesticides are toxic to eyes and skin and, if inhaled, can be toxic to internal organs. Because these products contain aerosol propellants, the toxins are expelled over a large area.
Safety/Alternatives: The U.S. EPA suggests taking the following precautions when using a bug fogger in your home:
- Use no more than one fogger per room, keeping in mind that no more than 1 ounce of fogger per 1,000 ft should be used.
- Extinguish all ignition sources, such as pilot lights, or place fogger at lease 6 feet away from such sources.
- Remove all children, pets, toys, and uncovered food from treated area.
- Properly ventilate the treated area after releasing foggers.
- Keep the product away from children, such as in a locked cabinet or shed.
- Teach children not to touch pesticide products and other household chemicals.
- Keep the telephone number of your local poison control center or the toll-free number ( 1-800-222-1222 ) for the National Poison Control Hotline handy.
5. Paint Thinner
Dangerous ingredients: Acetone, methanol, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, toluene, turpentine, mineral spirits
Health hazards: The toxins in paint thinner may cause health damage from long-term exposure. Some ingredients have been linked to developmental effects (miscarriages/birth defects), damage to the nervous system and reproductive effects, and are mutagenic (could affect genes and chromosomes) and toxic to the environment and wildlife.
Safety/Alternatives: Always were solvent-resistant gloves and splash-guard goggles and keep the room well ventilated when using paint thinner. Using water-based latex paints do not require the use of paint thinner.
6. Nail Polish Remover
Dangerous ingredients: Acetone, ethyl acetate, benzophenone-1, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, propyl acetate, denatonium benzoate dimethyl adipate, propylene carbonate, toluene and formaldehyde
Health hazards: According to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Report, the ingredients in nail polish remover pose the following health risks:
- Immune and nervous system toxicity
- Gastrointestinal and liver toxicity hazards
- Neurotoxicity hazards
- Damage to the skin and sense organs
- Possible reproductive or developmental harm
- General irritation
Safety/Alternatives: Use nail polish remover in a well-ventilated area (not in a closed bathroom). There are limited varieties of safer brands out there that contain fewer chemicals (non-acetone varieties are widely available, but still may contain other dangerous toxins). Check your local health food store for options.
