Harmful Covid-19 Cleaning Products That You Need To Be Aware Of:
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QACs) is a compound found in lots of cleaning products such as disinfectant wipes. These products saw a huge spike in use during the pandemic and a new study shows that they may being doing more harm than good.
Researchers found harmful Covid-19 cleaning products containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) may be connected to asthma, dermatitis and inflammation in humans.
This new study was published Monday in a new scientific journal in the Environmental Science and Technology that shows research done before and after the pandemic with these harmful covid-19 cleaning products.
“Disinfectant wipes containing QACs are often used on children’s school desks, hospital exam tables, and in homes where they remain on these surfaces and in the air,” Courtney Carignan, a co-author and assistant professor at Michigan State University, said in a press release. “Our review of the science suggests disinfecting with these chemicals in many cases is unhelpful or even harmful. We recommend regular cleaning with soap and water and disinfecting only as needed with safer products.”
These harmful covid-19 cleaning products with this compound easily get into children as they put their hands in their mouths more. Furthermore, research shows that these chemicals leach into waste water and our environment. Also, some studies have shown that many QACs are “moderately too highly toxic” for some species of fish.
Harmful Covid-19 Cleaning Products That You Need To Be Aware Of:
Another study included in this new review found that nurses with a high-level of exposure to disinfectants and cleaning products were significantly more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Those with high exposure risk to QACs include workers who manufacture cleaning products and those in medical, housekeeping or cleaning jobs, as well as school staff.
So how do you tell if your cleaning products contain QACs?
Common harmful QAC’s found in Covid-19 cleaning products that consumers can look out for is benzalkonium chloride, and that labels may have other chemicals listed that end in “ammonium chloride” or something similar.
Instead of using harmful Covid-19 cleaning products, just use soap and water.
Furthermore, if you’re looking for a great list of products I’ve included one here for you.
SAFER CLEANING PRODUCTS
Antibacterial All-Purpose Cleaner – Method Products Inc
Arm and Hammer Essentials – CR Brands Inc.
Comet Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner – The Proctor & Gamble Company
Lysol® Bathroom Cleaner – Reckitt Benckiser LLC
Lysol® Neutra Air® 2 in 1 – Reckitt Benckiser LLC
Kaboom – Church & Dwight Company Inc
Clorox Commercial Solutions® Clorox® Disinfecting Biostain & Odor Remover – Clorox Professional Products Company
Non Harmful Cleaning Products Continued
Lysol Multi-Purpose Cleaners – Reckitt Benckiser LLC
Clorox Pet Solutions Advanced Formula Disinfecting Stain & Odor Remover – The Clorox Company
Envirocleanse A – Envirocleanse LLC
Scrubbing Bubbles – S.C. Johnson & Son Inc
Windex Disinfectant Cleaner – S.C. Johnson & Son Inc
Force of Nature Activator Capsule – HCl Cleaning Products LLC
I have a full list of non harmful Covid-19 products that you can see here on Turi for commercial use and residential.
Enjoyed this post? Go check out our cleaning services such as Office Cleaning or some more blog posts on cleaning such as 10 Spring Cleaning Tips.