Is the dirt worth the clean?

I'm easily excited when I see new cleaning products. I ALWAYS hope they are "green"......you know, the generic term for more natural. By natural, I'm mean...PLEASE be better than the typical petroleum-based products that demand two whole isles in most stores. So, Saturday was no different. There it was, a new brand I had never seen before. WOW - finally another company was going to help us out by offering a new, safe household cleaner.  The best part....it has the "Dirty Jobs" logo from TV. You know, the guy that works those disgusting jobs we never think about.

This type of recognition will be easy for people to pick up and feel confident that it's good. I love the Dirty Jobs guy Mike Rowe. He gets in there, rolls up his sleeves and really does the work. Impressive yet very disgusting at times but I can't look away! So I think, "Man, this guy gets dirty, so he must know something about clean." Right?

The next thing I always do with a new product is read the back label. The one thing I learned early on was "the bold print selleth and the fine print taketh away". So flip to the fine print and there it was, exactly what I did NOT expect. It said exactly this, "CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS: HAZARDOUS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS and ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: This product is toxic to fish and aquatic organisms". In bold and all, can you believe it!??! Why don't they put that on the front of the label? Here is this huge new display offering Bathroom Cleaner and All-Purpose Spray - promoting this crap as a household cleaner. They know damn well we all use these products in our homes and around our families and pets!! Worst part is they do it with a logo both kids and adults know from a family television show. So, why would they harm us?

Dirty Jobs Cleaner - back of label. To the right you can see half of Mike Rowe's face.

First, let's answer the earlier question. Mike Rowe knows nothing about clean. For if he did, he would not allow his face or name to be promoted on these bottles. At least that is what I choose to believe. Second, why would they harm us? And who are they? Well, to answer that I went to the Google and typed dirty job cleaners and this site that came up first...

http://hoosierhomemade.com/putting-dirty-jobs-cleaners-to-the-test/ 

I thought, "Perfect, a mom that will be disgusted like I am and she's blogging about it! Very good! So the blog post starts like this, "As a Walmart Mom, I was recently asked to try the Dirty Jobs Cleaners and put them to the test. So with the All-Purpose Heavy Duty Degreaser and a rag in hand…
--But, it ends like this!
"Look for all of these products at Walmart!

Disclosure: This post is part of a campaign I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation and product for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own."

Now that surprised me. I didn't see that coming. She is paid to say good things about Walmart products. Maybe I should just look closer at the product and not what people are saying about it.

So why would they harm us? Who are they? According to the Material Safety Data Sheet for these cleaners, they are My Dirty Jobs, LLC, registered in Las Vegas, NV USA 89123-1060. The MSDS sheet also states Sodium Hypochloriteas as the main ingredient in the bathroom cleaner. According to Wikipedia, Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with the formula NaClO. Sodium hypochlorite solution, commonly known as bleach or Clorox, is frequently used as a disinfectant or a bleaching agent. The problem with this  is what we already know about bleach in household cleaners.

• A study on housewives showed that exposure to common household cleaning products with sodium hypochlorite can cause Reactive Airway Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS). RADS contains "asthma-like symptoms" and its severity depends on exposure and environmental factors. The long term effects have not been recorded. Due to the onset of RADS, caution should be emphasized when using bleach and other chemicals. [1]

Even in childhood, the warning about mixing bleach with most things could be dangerous. Ever pee in the toilet when it has bleach in the bowl? If you haven't, don't do it!

• Reports show, mixing an acid cleaner with sodium hypochlorite bleach generates chlorine gas. Mixing with ammonia solutions (including urine) produces chloramines. Mixtures of other cleaning agents and or organic matter can result in a gaseous reaction that can cause acute lung injury.[2] 

So yes, lets put bleach in a bathroom cleaner since the bathroom is generally the smallest room with the least amount of fresh air flow. They sure do seem concerned about our health, our bad health that is!

These are not myths, they are facts. Cleaning can be dangerous to your health. Now, please don't take that as a hall pass to never clean again!  What I hope the statement does is encourage label reading. Remember, advertising are just that, an ad to make you buy something. We are constantly being bombarded by false advertising. Everyday we are inundated with products that will harm us but they lead us to believe the product will help us. There is no concern for our health or well being. Even when the hurt is not immediate like a rash or asthma, you can bet it's coming. When it drains from our home, it hurts the environment, the aquifers and waterways, which harms us and future generations. Thankfully I take all this as a constant reminder about the importance of what I do; make safe, effective cleaning products. Angie Ringler ilovetangie.com

[1] ^https://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c1a81838-06a0-4325-a23b-bbde1db31e3e%40sessionmgr13&vid=5&hid=14


[2] ^http://web.ebscohost.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4f22085a-4990-46a5-801d-8a6b4687bc63%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=14