NEW STUDY

National Brand Cleaners
Significantly & Irreversibly
Damage Lung Tissue

New study confirms that household cleaners are even more dangerous than anyone imagined.

 NEW INDEPENDENT STUDY CONFIRMS:

Numerous toxic chemicals in
national brand home cleaners are
as damaging to lungs as smoking a
pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years.
A new, independent study1 based on 20 years of research and
published in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal
of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reveals a sobering fact:
cleaning your home with national brand cleaners as little as once
per week significantly and permanently damages lung tissue.
Almost all of the cleaning products you buy at the grocery store
contain a number of harmful chemicals.
The study specifically named ammonia, chlorine bleach, and
quaternary disinfectant compounds as some of the likely culprits.
But there are also many other dangerous compounds that name
brand cleaners commonly use.
The study also showed cleaning with products that contain
dangerous chemicals as little as once per week was as damaging
over time to respiratory health as smoking a pack of cigarettes
a day for 20 years!

100
75
50
25

25

30

35

40

Never smoked and does not
use national brand cleaners
Smokes 1 pack per day
Does not smoke, but uses
national brand cleaners
as little as once per week

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

Lung capacity naturally decreases with age. Smoking
cigarettes is known to accelerate that decrease
rapidly2. Shockingly, women who used national brand
cleaners as little as once per week saw the same
decrease in lung capacity as smokers.

 7

KEY FINDINGS
F RO M T H E
ST U DY

FINDING 1

Weekly use of national brand home
cleaning products is as damaging to lung
health as smoking 20 cigarettes per day.

Cleaning your home once
a week could damage your
lungs as much as smoking
7 packs of cigarettes a week.

STUDY D ETAILS
•  20-year longitudinal study
•  Completely independent

By now, just about everyone knows the dangers
of smoking cigarettes. Among their many hazards
is depleted lung capacity—the result of damage
to the tender internal tissues of the respiratory
system. Shockingly, the study concluded that
women who used home cleaning products as little
as once per week saw the same reduction in lung
capacity as those who smoked a pack a day over
the same period.

FINDING 2

Women are affected far more than men.
Though there was a clear correlation between
women who cleaned at home or for work and
respiratory illness, there was less correlation for
men. While not completely unaffected, male lungs
have been proven to endure greater exposure to
environmental pollutants before experiencing
a similar drop in lung capacity. This finding is
particularly concerning considering women engage
with cleaning products more frequently than men.

•  6,235 male and female subjects

FINDING 3

•  Average age 34 at beginning
of study; 54 at conclusion

Cleaning at home is just as harmful
as being an occupational cleaner,
if not more so.

•  Use of spray and liquid home
cleaning products monitored

The study survey categorized participants as “not
cleaning,” “cleaning at home,” and “occupational
cleaning.” Surprisingly, the “cleaning at home”
group saw the same decreases in lung health as
“occupational cleaning.” Using cleaning products
within the relaxed, comfortable confines of home
may actually lend to a general complacency that
ultimately leads to impaired health.

•  Lung capacity tested regularly
•  Results compiled by 28 top
researchers from 9 countries
•  Peer reviewed and published
in the American Thoracic
Society’s American Journal
of Respiratory and Critical
Care Medicine

1. Øistein Svanes et al., “Cleaning at Home and at Work in Relation to
Lung Function Decline and Airway Obstruction,” American Journal of
Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, February 16, 2018.
2. “Fletcher curve.” Adapted from Fletcher & Peto (1977): The natural history
of chronic airflow obstruction.

 FINDING 4

Liquid cleaners are just as dangerous
as sprays.
Study researchers originally suspected that
products delivered through a spray or mist would
prove more dangerous than those applied as a
liquid, gel, or wipe. The study found no significant
difference between cleaner delivery types.

FINDING 5

Household cleaners are
even more dangerous
than anyone imagined.
Most of the companies that manufacture the
national cleaning brands knowingly choose to
formulate with dangerous chemicals. Almost all
cleaning products you’ll find in the grocery store
contain numerous toxic ingredients, including,
but not limited to, the following:*

Dangerous chemicals including
ammonia, chlorine bleach, and
quaternary disinfectant compounds
appear to be primary culprits.

CHLORINE BLEACH

In their conclusions, the researchers stated,
“One could hypothesize that long-term exposure
to airway irritants such as ammonia and bleach
used when cleaning at home could cause fibrotic
or other interstitial changes in the lung tissue,
thereby leading to accelerated decline of FVC
[forced vital capacity].”

•  Clorox® Bleach

•  2000 Flushes® Toilet Bowl Cleaner
•  Cascade® Complete with Clorox®
•  Clorox® Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach

•  Clorox® Clean-Up® All Purpose Cleaner
•  Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner
•  Fantastik® 5-in-1 All Purpose Cleaner
•  Great Value® All Purpose Cleaner with Bleach
•  Kaboom® Mold and Mildew Stain Remover
•  Kaboom® Shower, Tub & Tile Cleaner
•  Lysol® Mold & Mildew Bathroom Cleaner

FINDING 6

Women who regularly use cleaning
products have increased rates of asthma.
Researchers found increased rates of asthma within
the groups who used cleaning products regularly.
This echoes multiple recent studies that have clearly linked the use of dangerous chemical cleaning
agents with the unfortunate onset of asthma.

•  Redi Shine® Bathroom Cleaner
•  Scrubbing Bubbles® Foaming Bleach Bathroom Cleaner
•  Scrubbing Bubbles® Multi Surface Bathroom Cleaner
•  Soft Scrub® with Bleach
•  The Works® Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach

AMMONIA
•  Great Value® Glass Cleaner
•  Misty® Glass & Mirror Cleaner
•  Spartan® Glass Cleaner

FINDING 7

Damage is cumulative over time.
When toxic chemicals–like those found in most
national brand cleaning products–are regularly
inhaled into the sensitive tissues within the lungs,
it makes sense that respiratory problems would
result. “Exposure to cleaning chemicals,” the
researchers wrote, “could result in accelerated lung
function decline and chronic airway obstruction;
low-grade inflammation over many years could
possibly lead to persistent damage to the airways.”

•  Windex® Original

QUATERNARY
DISINFECTANT COMPOUNDS
•  Clorox® Bathroom Disinfecting Bleach-Free Cleaner
•  Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes
•  Formula 409® Multi-Surface Cleaner
•  Great Value® Disinfectant Spray
•  Lysol® All-Purpose Cleaner
•  Lysol® Disinfectant Spray
•  Lysol® Disinfecting Wipes
•  Spic and Span® Everyday Antibacterial Cleaner

AND MANY MORE....
* Product names are registered trademarks of their respective owners.

If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to rid your home of the dangerous
national cleaning products that contain so many harmful chemicals.
©2018 National Vista, Inc.

07/18 N

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