Health Hazards of using Chlorine in Bleach

Last week I went to clean the bathroom. I got my bowl full of hot soapy water and added Clorox Bleach to it. Within a few minutes my throat seemed tight, my lungs were having a hard time breathing and I had to go outside for quite a while before these feelings left. I walked back into the house just to leave again because I could now smell the fumes throughout the house. I don't remember ever having this type of reaction before so I thought I would do some investigating and identify what caused this.

My first approach is to identify what compounds make up bleach. I pulled out my bottle of Clorox Bleach and it says the ingredients are:

• 6% Sodium Hypochlorite
• 94% Other ingredients

Below it says that it yields 5.7% available chlorine.

Now that I know what the ingredients are - well at least 6% of the known ingredients I want to learn what Sodium Hypochlorite is and my research found this:

Sodium hypochlorite is made by mixing chlorine gas in a cold sodium hydroxide solution. Chlorine when a gas form can only become liquid when cold and then it converts back to a gas easily once released. Chlorine Gas stays close to the ground and spreads quickly exposing those closer to the ground to harmful toxic fumes.

What types of products have chlorine in them?

• used as disinfectants in our water systems
• household cleaners like laundry detergents
• Bleach

Other names for chlorine:

• Triahlomethanes
• PCB's Polychlorinated biphenyls
• Vinyl Chloride
• Organochlorines
• C12
• Molecular Chlorine
• Bertholite

Cleaning 101 suggestions without using Chlorine products:

Since this situation took place last week I have decided that my body is telling me that I should no longer be using Bleach so I have identified some other ways of cleaning without killing my throat, lungs and nose airways.

• Distilled White Vinegar works as well if not better than bleach
• 20 drops of Essential Oil of Lavender to 1 cup of tap water in a water bottle
• Microwave wood cutting boards for over 10 minutes or let soak in soapy water

Also look at companies like Seventh Generation who creates healthy products for daily use including chlorine free bleach.

seventhgeneration.com