The question is have you ever disinfected your home, you say silly Clean of course we have. Well I am here to tell you that unless you have carefully followed the directions on the label of your disinfectant, all you have done is the equivalent of cleaning with soap and water or even less.
It’s true, if you look at the label on your favorite disinfectant spray the directions should tell you what the dwell time (time the product must be left on the surface) is in order to sanitize or disinfect. The majority of them list 10 minutes of dwell time before wiping. Now ask yourself, when cleaning up in your kitchen or bath, do you leave the product on the surface for 10 minutes before wiping? Or are you like most folks who clean by using the spray and wipe method? If you are like most then you have wasted your money on a disinfectant and could have opted for the much gentler, less toxic, soap and water to clean. That is if your disinfectant is also a cleaner (contains detergents or surfactants).
Check that label again, does it say “for heavily soiled surfaces, pre-clean”? This means that the disinfectant is not effective if the surface is dirty. I know what you’re thinking, why buy a cleaner that doesn’t clean, right? Well, most of the multi-purpose cleaners with disinfectants are not sufficient for cleaning the soiled surface before disinfecting. If you are like some and use the all infamous bleach and water to disinfect your home and do not let the solution dwell for 10 minutes before wiping or rinsing, then you have essentially cleaned with water. The bleach will not clean or lift the soil, therefore the disinfectant is rendered useless or close to it.
Now let’s take a look at another section of your disinfectants directions on the label. Do you see the word “for food contact surfaces”? What comes next? RINSE with water! Now let’s say that you are a direction following diva and you do exactly as it says, you would not rinse the toilet seat, the door knobs, the faucets, light switches, etc. you would only rinse the countertops, sinks and other kitchen surfaces right? Here’s where our regulatory system fails us. The manufacturer of such products is required to give us warnings or caution us about the hazards of accidentally ingesting their products or what to do if it happens to get into your eyes. However the only warning they are required to give about skin contact is if the product may cause irritation or burning to the skin (common with acid containing products).
With that said let’s have a little health quiz. What is the largest organ in our body? Our skin. Is our skin a non-porous surface? The answer is no. Can chemicals that come in contact with our skin enter our bloodstream? Absolutely! Ever heard of transdermal skin patches? These are patches with medicines on them that are placed on our skin to be absorbed into our bloodstream. Statistically these patches are 95% more effective than oral medications mainly because they are not broken down by digestive acids. Now if the manufacturers of the cleaning products you used were to claim that the skin absorbs the chemicals in their products, they would need to be classified as a drug and would be strictly regulated – taboo for the cleaning chemical industry.
So what does all of this mean to you? If you’ve been following the labels directions it’s still not enough. All surfaces need to rinsed thoroughly after applying these chemicals or you are endangering your health by allowing your skin to absorb them. (I won’t even mention the inhalation of the chemicals when they are sprayed.) If you are not following the directions on the label then you haven’t been disinfecting at all, so ask yourself….is it even necessary?
My advise, kick the chemicals to the curb. Clean your home with a natural detergent and water and if you insist on a disinfectant, use vinegar and water or hydrogen peroxide. Both products can be used orally and are deemed safe for contact with food surfaces and our skin.
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