Air fresheners, all-purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners, carpet cleaners, floor cleaners, glass and window cleaners, and drain cleaners are just some of the products used everyday in the workplace. But how safe are they?
Even perfumes worn by people in the workplace could have a detrimental effect on health. Perfumes could soon be banned or restricted, psychotherapist and author Ms Pat Thomas told The Irish Times. Her latest book, Cleaning Yourself to Death: How Safe is Your Home?, was recently published by New Leaf. "It is suspected now in America that very soon the issue of second-hand perfume will be as serious as the issue of second-hand smoke. You've already got buildings that are fragrance-free. You've got hosts and hostesses who are inviting people to their homes and saying `Please be mindful of the fact that we don't want you to wear scent'. And the reason is there is an enormous amount of research into perfume ingredients and the potential problems that they can cause."
She writes in the book that modern perfumes are manufactured almost entirely from petrochemicals, many of which are regarded as hazardous waste. "Several thousand different chemicals are used in fragrance manufacture; 95 per cent of these are derived from petroleum. Of the less than 20 per cent that have actually been tested for safety, most have been found to be toxic to humans, some of which can cause cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions."
Adverse short-term health effects of inhaled fragrances can include allergic and irritant skin reactions. Potential chronic problems can include asthma, headaches, migraines, inability to concentrate, mood changes, nausea, short-term memory lapse, restlessness, depression, lethargy and sinus pain, she says.
Cleaning products, air fresheners and disinfectants are used in many places, but "one of the big differences with workplaces is many offices now are completely sealed and so this stuff just circulates", she says. "They can get into the air and they can be inhaled and very easily get into your bloodstream. They very easily breach the blood-brain barrier and get straight to the brain, where they can cause disruption to your central nervous system." She notes in her book that, in a random study of 7,000 people, 71 per cent were found to have toxic chemicals in their urine. "You can absorb up to 60 per cent of any substance applied to your skin," she adds.
Products in the workplace can also damage workers' fertility and cause reproductive problems. "A recent Canadian study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that women who work with organic solvents - e.g., artists, graphic designers, laboratory technicians, cleaners, factory workers, office workers and chemists - have a greatly increased risk of both miscarriage and of giving birth to premature, low birth-weight or damaged babies."
"Men who work in jobs which bring them into contact with pesticides and toxic chemicals are more likely to father children with birth defects." The easy-to-read book provides numerous practical alternatives to products deemed by the author to be harmful. A provocative and illuminating read. [SBX] Cleaning Yourself to Death by Pat Thomas is published by New Leaf, an imprint of Gill & Macmillan Ltd. Paperback, 227 pages. Price: £9.10
jmarms@irish-times.ie
