Indoor air quality plays an important role in your family's health. As homes become more energy efficient the air exchange suffers, trapping indoor pollution from wood stoves, second-hand smoke and chemical cleaning products, reports the Cancer Prevention Coalition. In addition to causing allergies and other harmful reactions, toxic carpet cleaning products can lead to cancer.
Considerations
Carpet and padding often are made with harmful volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that emit toxic chemicals in the air. Using high VOC cleaners merely increases the odds of adding poisons to your home or office. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes guides to help consumers find effective, affordable non-toxic alternatives for cleaning carpets and recommends that consumers check with the EPA's listing before hiring a commercial cleaner or purchasing cleaning products.
Identification
The ingredients in carpet cleaning products should be clearly identified. Harmful chemicals in common household carpet cleaners include petroleum, triclosan and butyl cellosolve. Trichloroethlene is a common toxin used in rug cleaners that has been tied to cases of child leukemia, report researchers at Healthy Child Healthy World. Better options are plant oil disinfectants, grain alcohol and eucalyptus, sage or rosemary.
Features
Third-party groups such as Scientific Certification Systems and Green Seal have tested cleaning products for their safety. The EPA recommends using products that have low VOCs, which are emitted from a host of solvents. Features to look for on labels of non-toxic carpet cleaning products include biodegradable, solvent-free or bio-based that are citrus or pine-based.
Alternatives
There are a number of natural products that can serve as viable carpet cleaning alternatives, reports the EPA. Lemon juice, borax, baking soda and white vinegar make for safe, environmentally friendly cleaners. Vegetable-based castile soap is an option for all-purpose cleaning. Club soda is a common stain remover that can be used on carpets.
Warning
Many carpet-cleaning products have labels that clearly identify toxins. The EPA reports that cleaners specifying danger, poisonous, highly corrosive or severely irritating should be avoided. Some carpet-cleaning products can be lethal if ingested. Toxic cleaning products can cause respiratory illness, eye and skin irritation and other more serious complications.
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