Greening Your Cleaning Fact Sheet

Ingredients in traditional cleaners used in schools can harm your child’s health and the health of staff, visitors and peers.
The World Health Organization estimates that 19% of all cancers are environmentally related.
Common cleaning chemicals can cause headaches, asthma, burns, permanent eye damage, major organ damage, and even cancer.
Children are especially affected by cleaning products, as kids breathe and play closer to the ground, where contaminants settle. They also have frequent hand-to-mouth activity, giving them many opportunities to ingest contaminants in their environment.
The World Health Organization estimates that 30% of all buildings experience indoor air quality (IAQ) problems. Cleaning products can be a key contributor.
Manufacturers are not required to list ingredients that make up less than 0.1% of listed carcinogens or 1% of listed OSHA chemicals. Even these small amounts can harm human health.

Here are a couple of Health Concerns associated with traditional cleaning products:

Glass Cleaners: Common Ingredients Known or Potential Health Effects
Isopropyl alcohol -

Can irritate skin and eyes. Acute Health Effects – can irritate and burn skin and eyes in addition to nose and throat irritation. Overexposure can cause headache, drowsiness, confusion, loss of coordination, unconsciousness and death.
Ammonia -
Can irritate skin, eyes, nose and throat.
Higher exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema).

All-Purpose Cleaners: Common Ingredients Known or Potential Health Effects
2-butoxyethanol -

Can irritate eyes, nose, throat and mouth.
Acute Health Effects – can cause headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, confusion and passing out.
Chronic Health Effects – may damage the developing fetus and may damage the testes (male reproductive glands).

Bathroom Cleaners: Common Ingredients Known or Potential Health Effects
Sodium hypochlorite/chlorine - Bleach

Can affect breathing. Contact may severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes with possible eye damage.
Can irritate lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), a medical emergency, with severe shortness of breath.