The Fabulous Home Project

Got Asthma? Might be your cleaning spray....

Before you reach for that bottle of furniture spray, air freshener or window cleaner, consider this:

Using household cleaning sprays and scented air fresheners as little as once a week can raise a person's risk of developing asthma, the European study says.

Fifteen per cent, or one in seven, adult asthma cases could be attributed to use of cleaning and deodorizing sprays, according to the study.

The study included more than 3,500 subjects across 22 centres in 10 European countries.

Source: CBC.ca, "Household cleaning sprays linked to higher asthma risk" 12Oct2007

For a truly fabulous home, try making your own cleaners. It's easy and there are plenty of how-to guides:

• Clean and Green
• Pantry Recipes for Homemade Cleaning Supplies (Organized Home)
• Natural Cleaning and Green Cleaning by Miah (Green Parenting)
• Non-toxic Home Care (Eartheasy)

And if you don't want to make your own, there are plenty of "green" cleaners on the market. Cynthia Hubert at The Sacramento Bee recently did a comparison of green vs traditional cleaners; here's a snapshot of the winners.

Labels: cleaning, green, natural, toxic

posted by Unknown @ 2:16 PM