They may be!!!!
If you’re cleaning mostly with the national brand cleaners you buy off the store shelves, you are probably damaging your lungs by cleaning with them.
An independent study based on 20 years of research revealed that cleaning your home with national brand cleaners significantly damages lung tissue. Almost all of the cleaning products you purchase at the grocery store and made with a multitude of harmful chemicals, mainly being ammonia, chlorine bleach, and quanternary disinfectant compounds. They study showed that cleaning as little as once per week with these products was as damaging over time to respiratory health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years!! The study found as well with the participants that simply cleaning at home saw the same lung damage as those who did occupational cleaning.
The study found that liquid cleaners are just as dangerous as sprays. There was no significant difference between those who used a spray or mist as compared to those who used a liquid, gel, or wipe. Also, according to the study, the damage is cumulative over time.
It’s so easy to clean with safe products, and I’ve found they actually do a much better job as well. My favorite products to clean with are Norwex, Modere, Melaleuca, and Young Living. . Melaleuca’s Ecosense cleaning products contain no: chlorine bleach, ammonia, abrasives, phosphates, quaternary disinfectants, phthalates, triclosan, parabens, or formaldehyde. And…no child-proof caps are required.
Modere has an excellent line of cleaners as well that are gray water safe. That means that they use ingredients that are safe for the reintroduction into the environment and reuse for personal projects like watering the garden. Their dishwasher soap is the best I have used.
Norwex has an extensive line of microfiber cloths that are woven much thicker than other microfiber cloths. Ones that can get wet or should get wet also have silver woven into the cloth as well to inhibit bacterial growth. Ever smell a cloth that’s been wet a couple days?? Norwex microfiber cloths self-clean and so they won’t begin to smell.
Young Living has a line of cleaners with the Thieves blend in them. Their all purpose cleaner comes as a concentrate and can be mixed for different strengths based on your need. It can be used on virtually any surface. I don’t use it myself on painted surfaces or sealed wood surfaces though.
You can read about the study at this link: