It’s time for spring cleaning: should you be concerned about household cleansers?

Many parents are concerned about what their kids eat and carefully check nutrition labels for fat and sugar content. Should the public be aware of what ingredients are in their cleaning products?

As parents engage in the annual ritual of spring cleaning, some may use cleansers on furniture, floors and carpets. If they have small children who climb, crawl and put things in their mouths, they might be exposed to the residue left behind. Because children are still growing, they are often more sensitive to some toxins which is one reason parents are asking: what goes into these products?

In Canada, there are no government regulations that require products, like household cleaners, to have a list of ingredients or labels that let the public know if they contain substances linked to cancer. Some parents are concerned that without adequate labelling, they are unable to make informed choices about the products they use in their households.

A poll conducted by the Canadian Cancer Society in 2008 indicated that 99% of Ontarian’s surveyed agreed that ‘there should be an easy-to-read label, or symbol, that indicates if toxic chemicals are found in a product’, and that they have a ‘right to be informed, either by a symbol or a label, about harmful chemicals in a product before purchasing the product’.

As a step forward, some manufacturers, such as SC Johnson, are sensing the growing demand for product information and are voluntarily sharing more details. For example, SC Johnson reports that Windex(TM) contains six types of ingredients like water, carriers, cleaning agents, wetting agents, fragrance, and dye. The cleaning agents are further broken down to four different types of chemicals. The What’s Inside SC Johnson website shares detailed information about other popular products like Drano(TM), Fantastik(TM) and Pledge(TM).