When you make a plan to deep clean your house over the weekend or on holiday, what’s the first thing that crosses your mind? For most individuals, they envision turning on some good music, opening the windows and letting the breeze flood their home as they clean their surfaces.
While that may be true in most instances, there’s a component of the cleaning process that often goes undiscussed — air quality.
Certain Chemicals Diminish Your Air Quality
Did you know that certain cleaning chemicals can cause your breathing-related ailments to become exacerbated? A study conducted by David Vizcaya in Barcelona, Spain, followed the lives of twenty-one women employed as professional cleaners who had been diagnosed with asthma in the past.
In their study, subjects were monitored for a little over two weeks. During this period, the women claimed to use an average of two cleaning products per day for their work-related duties. Women who used cleaning compounds with additives such as ammonia noticed a significant increase in asthma-related symptoms. In a general sense, these products drastically reduced air quality and caused the subjects’ breathing to become labored.
The study concluded that certain cleaning products could inflame the airway of the user and make it difficult to breathe. If the individual suffers from ailments such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia or bronchitis, these chemicals should be avoided entirely.
If we can extrapolate Vizcaya’s findings to fit our homes and cleaning routine, we begin to see how our cleaning products could influence those around us. While David illustrated the side effects of specific agents such as ammonia, here is a brief list of ingredients that readers should be aware of:
- Chlorine
- Sodium hydroxide (lye)
- Aerosol
- Artificial scents
Education Is Half the Battle
With the facts laid out on the table, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and assume every cleaning product is out to get us or cause harm — not so. Many manufacturers have begun campaigns to create products that are safe to use, highly effective at cleaning and do no harm or inflame the user’s air passages.
If you know that you suffer from certain ailments that influence your breathing, begin to examine the label before purchasing your product. This small, easy-to-implement habit will keep your house smelling fresh and your body healthy! If you are interested in testing the air quality in your home, give us a call. Let’s breathe freely!
