Household Cleaners – Safety Under the Kitchen Sink

In general, I recommend choosing cleaning products that don’t require any such labeling. If a cleanser is not good for you and at its most acceptable level requires caution, it is probably not good for others or for the environment either. Instead, as your household cleaners need replacement, switch to simple, green cleansers that are safer for you and your family and also reduce the environmental harm caused by the manufacture, use, and disposal of nongreen products.

You have choices here. You can make your own cleansers with readily available ingredients (most of which are probably already in your kitchen cabinet), or you can buy products that are healthier and environmentally responsible alternatives. Many of these are 100 percent bio¬degradable and do not contain the unnecessary ingredients found in conventional cleansers, such as artificial fragrances, antimicrobials, chlorine, coal dyes, or phosphates.

Dr. Alan Greene

Dr. Greene is a practicing physician, author, national and international TEDx speaker, and global health advocate. He is a graduate of Princeton University and University of California San Francisco.