Introduction
Consumer concern about chemicals in cleaning products is growing. Many of the ingredients within cleaning products are associated with asthma, respiratory irritation, allergic skin reactions and skin irritation. Green cleaning products claim to contain non-toxic, plant-based ingredients and are often marketed as a safer alternative for health as well as the environment. However, no research has yet attempted to compare green and conventional cleaning products on the hazards that they pose to the environment and to human health. This study is the first of its’ kind to compare the hazards associated with green and conventional cleaning products using the information that is available to consumers.
Method
Ingredient information for 94 multi-purpose cleaning products sold in the UK was collected from manufacturers’ websites; 15 of these were green cleaning products and 79 were conventional. Information about the concentration of these ingredients is not available so this could not be taken into account. Information about each chemical and its’ associated environmental and human health hazards was recorded from the European Chemicals Agency website. There were 20 different hazard categories that a chemical could be classified as. The total number of chemicals with each of the classified hazards from ECHA in each product was calculated, and then these totals were compared between green and conventional products using non-parametric tests.
Results
There were no significant differences between green and conventional products on any of the environmental hazards. Green products contained significantly more chemicals that could be toxic or fatal in contact with skin, as well as containing significantly more chemicals that could be damaging to organs. There were no significant differences between green and conventional products and the amount of chemicals they contained that could result in an allergic skin or respiratory reaction, or respiratory and/or skin irritation.
Conclusion
From a toxicity perspective, the lack of significant differences between green and conventional products on environmental toxicity poses questions as to how beneficial green cleaning products are to the environment. The lay belief that green cleaning products are more beneficial to health than conventional cleaning products may be unfounded. Those with asthma and allergies associated with specific chemicals cannot rely on a product being green to be suitable for their needs. However, these conclusions are tentative because the concentration of a chemical within a product will impact on its’ overall toxicity, and this could not be taken into account.