Ammonia and Bleach...More Serious than Most People Realize
Posted Jan 27 2009 8:31pm
The other night I was watching House on FOX and it was about a guy who had been exposed to chlorine gas...by a combination of Household Cleaners (ammonia and bleach). I love that show. Obviously it is not a grand expose of inherent medical advice but it does peak your interest. Anyway, today, while cleaning the house I remembered the show and I realized that most toilet bowl cleaners have bleach and most glass cleaners have ammonia. Hmmmm. I use both in the bathroom. Now I don't mix them, but I clean the inside of the toilet with a cleaner for that and the rims and outside with window cleaner.
I read a little about the resulting chlorine gas that is formed when these common products are mixed and discovered that it causes lung irritation. Haven't we all coughed and gagged while cleaning the bathroom?
I also learned that chlorine gas was used in WWI and WWII as a weapon of choice by Nazi Germany. Hmmmm. It seems that in large doses it causes the lungs to fill with fluid and obviously consequential death...but at least the people were unconscious when that finally occurred.
I just wanted to share this information with my readers because I think we should all be a little more careful of this deadly combination while cleaning our homes. It is a very serious thing and we all need to start reading the labels.
I also have in my cleaning cabinet those new "almost natural" cleaners "Green Works" by Clorox. I read the labels and they contain no bleach and no ammonia. So I say out with the harsh ones and in with the almost natural ones. I also use Murphy's Oil Soap to clean some woods and to mop the floor. Now that one's been around a while...remember the commercials with the little old lady's cleaning the church pews?
Encouraging all to find some more natural cleaners and read the labels!
I read a little about the resulting chlorine gas that is formed when these common products are mixed and discovered that it causes lung irritation. Haven't we all coughed and gagged while cleaning the bathroom?
I also learned that chlorine gas was used in WWI and WWII as a weapon of choice by Nazi Germany. Hmmmm. It seems that in large doses it causes the lungs to fill with fluid and obviously consequential death...but at least the people were unconscious when that finally occurred.
I just wanted to share this information with my readers because I think we should all be a little more careful of this deadly combination while cleaning our homes. It is a very serious thing and we all need to start reading the labels.
I also have in my cleaning cabinet those new "almost natural" cleaners "Green Works" by Clorox. I read the labels and they contain no bleach and no ammonia. So I say out with the harsh ones and in with the almost natural ones. I also use Murphy's Oil Soap to clean some woods and to mop the floor. Now that one's been around a while...remember the commercials with the little old lady's cleaning the church pews?
Encouraging all to find some more natural cleaners and read the labels!
Tootles