Who doesn't love that clean fresh smell that comes from spraying a fine mist of your favorite air freshener? Sometimes, it seems that no matter how clean our homes are, odors find their way inside, lurking in the carpets, curtains or simply hanging in the air. With four dogs and three kids, I'll admit, in the past I relied quite heavily on chemical-based cleaners and air fresheners to replace foul odors with more pleasant scents.
But I stopped using them when I learned that research conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found that chemical compound in some popular products, including air fresheners, toilet bowl cleaners, mothballs and other deodorizing products, may be harmful to the lungs, even causing reductions in lung functions.
"Even a small reduction in lung function may indicate some harm to the lungs," NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., lead investigator on the study said in a 2007 news release. "The best way to protect yourself, especially children who may have asthma or other respiratory illnesses, is to reduce the use of products and materials that contain these compounds."
Studies have also linked household cleaners with the onset of asthma attacks in people who have asthma and one common household cleaning ingredient, ethoxylated nonyl penols, are believed to cause reproductive issues in some animals, according a report printed by www.thedailygreen.com.
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