12 Most Dangerous Household Chemicals

dangerous household chemicals

Maybe you’ve been wondering just how harmful the fumes from everyday household products are? Often, when a chemical, fume, or vapor is harmful, its strong smell or odor is the first identifier of this. However, this can also be the case for other household products you actually enjoy the smell of. For instance, when you’re mopping your floor with fresh, lemon-scented cleaner, you may think it smells nice, but you may actually be polluting the air inside your home. Common household products, from soaps and polishes to flooring and furniture, can contain chemicals that get released into the air over time, causing harm to your health. Even household products that label themselves as “green” aren’t always healthy.

Many of these common household cleaning products on the market can irritate our eyes or throat and even cause headaches or further complicate existing health conditions like allergies, asthma, and multiple chemical sensitivities. Some products release dangerous chemicals like ammonia and bleach or mix with other substances to produce dangerous indoor pollutants. Other products are made with and or release VOCs (volatile organic compounds) over time. These can lead to eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, nausea, and in severe cases, even damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Research has even shown that levels of these compounds are often two to five times higher inside the home rather than outside due to all the consumer goods made with them.

You may find that you own one or more of the products that contain chemicals like chlorine bleach, aerosol sprays, detergents, dish soaps, air fresheners, furniture, and floor polish, oven cleaner, and rug and upholstery cleaners. Even clothes fresh from the dry cleaners or brand-new hardwood or carpet flooring could be the culprit. Below we’ve created a comprehensive list of the 12 most dangerous household chemicals. These are products that most people use or come into contact with inside their homes or at work on a day-to-day basis. Read on to find out what makes these substances so harmful and why.

The Consumer Law Page lists the Top 12 Most Dangerous Household Chemicals:

  1. Air Fresheners – Don’t let the commercials fool you. Most air fresheners interfere with your ability to smell by disabling your nasal passages with an oil film or a nerve-deadening agent. Common chemicals in air fresheners include formaldehyde (a highly toxic known carcinogen) and phenol (which can cause hives, convulsions, circulatory collapse, coma, and even death).
  2. Ammonia is a volatile chemical that can damage your eyes, respiratory tract, and skin.
  3. Bleach is a strong corrosive that can damage the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. NEVER mix bleach with ammonia, as the fumes can be deadly.
  4. Carpet and Upholstery Shampoos generally contain highly toxic substances like perchlorethylene (a known carcinogen that damages the liver, kidneys, and nervous system) and ammonium hydroxide (a corrosive that irritates eyes, skin, and respiratory passages).
  5. Dishwasher Detergents – Most of these are toxic household cleaners because they contain highly concentrated chlorine, which is the #1 cause of child poisonings.
  6. Drain Cleaners commonly include lye (which can burn skin and eyes, and the esophagus and stomach if ingested), hydrochloric acid (a corrosive eye and skin irritant that damages kidneys, liver, and digestive tract), or tricholoroethane (eye and skin irritant and nervous system depressant).
  7. Furniture Polish is highly flammable and can cause skin and lung cancer. It often contains phenol as well as nitrobenzene, which is an extremely toxic chemical that’s easily absorbed through the skin.
  8. Mold and Mildew Cleaners often contain sodium hypochlorite (a corrosive which can lead to fluid in the lungs) and formaldehyde (a highly toxic, known carcinogen). To clean mold and mildew safely – and to prevent it from coming back – use M-1 House Wash and M-1 Sure Cote Sealant.
  9. Oven Cleaner contains lye (sodium hydroxide). Lye is often used to dissolve roadkill dumped in landfills; that can’t be healthy.
  10. Antibacterial Cleaners often contain triclosan, which is absorbed through the skin and linked to liver damage. Antibacterial soaps may also contribute to the development of drug-resistant bacteria.
  11. Laundry Room Products may contain sodium or calcium hypocrite (a highly corrosive agent that can irritate the skin and eyes), hypochlorite bleach (a corrosive that can burn the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract). If exposed to other chemicals, hypochlorite bleach may form chlorine fumes that could be fatal.
  12. Toilet Bowl Cleaners may contain hydrochloric acid or hypochlorite bleach.

Other Dangerous Chemicals around the House

  • Pesticides – Dimpylate, or Diazinon, is extremely toxic and impairs the central nervous system. Chlorinate hydrocarbons are suspected carcinogens and mutagens; they accumulate in fatty tissue and attack the nervous system. Organophosphates are toxic and poisonous; if you can smell it, that means your lungs are absorbing it.
  • Lice Shampoo – Inhalation, ingestion, or absorption of lindane causes vomiting, convulsions, and circulatory collapse and may cause liver damage, stillbirths, birth defects, and cancer.
  • Car Wash, Car Polish – Petroleum distillates are associated with skin and lung cancer, and they irritate the skin, eyes, nose, and lungs. Inhalation could cause fatal pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs).

Chemical Warning Labels

The information below is actually new to me, and it’s very interesting and helpful when you’re learning about toxic household chemicals!

DANGER means that the chemical is harmful or fatal if swallowed. Ingestion of a small taste to a teaspoon could kill an average sized adult.

WARNING means that the chemical is harmful if swallowed. Ingestion of a teaspoon to an ounce could kill an average sized adult.

CAUTION means that the chemical is harmful if swallowed. Ingestion of an ounce to a pint could kill an average adult. Stop using harmful household cleaning products and browse AchooAllergy cleaning products for better alternatives.

9 thoughts on “12 Most Dangerous Household Chemicals

  1. Angie December 5, 2008 / 9:28 am

    This is so true.<br>That is why I am using only get clean products from Shaklee<br>Angie

  2. jdjdjsd April 1, 2012 / 9:16 pm

    Wow who would have thought

  3. Jose June 28, 2013 / 10:24 pm

    True bleach does irritate the eyes a lot.

  4. Malia September 4, 2013 / 9:19 pm

    What can kill you instantly?

  5. KevvyG September 5, 2013 / 4:01 pm

    Many of them could be fatal in fairly short order if swallowed and not treated. It is best to avoid using any of the compounds listed above, and if used, try a mask or at the very least, limit your exposure time and provide a way for air to circulate through the space you are cleaning. One of the most dangerous but most common problems is with the mixture of ammona and chlorine/bleach. It can produce a number of byproducts but chlorine gas or chloramine gas can be extremely dangerous. It is unlikely that any of the cleaning agents listed here though, would be instantly fatal.

  6. kristina Bennet November 12, 2013 / 9:57 pm

    interested in knowing the side affects of mold mildew cleaners

  7. Shelley November 13, 2013 / 11:54 am

    Hi,
    Would you mind if I copied this post in whole or part to my blog? I will cite your blog as my source.
    Please let me know, this information is so important!

    Thank you!

  8. KevvyG November 13, 2013 / 12:07 pm

    No problem! You can re-use this content if you cite this URL as the source/orginal article.

  9. Annie October 5, 2014 / 7:10 am

    This site is fab!!! My mum binned all the air fresheners in the house after reading. Thanks. 😉

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