A group for safe cleaning products

Women’s Voices for the Earth, an environmental group based in Missoula, Mont., made headlines last year with a report that common household cleaners contained obscure chemicals — mostly in small amounts as fragrances or surfactants — that it considered unsafe. While it is deeply serious about persuading people to consider alternatives to chemical-laden cleaning products, the parties are not merely dutiful.

As fear of global warming has given new clout to a tattered environmental movement, and as companies like Clorox have responded by bringing out “green” product lines, groups like Women’s Voices have responded by saying there’s no need to pay $4.99 for a bottle of cleaner with ingredients the company won’t name when you can make your own with well-known ingredients for pennies. The organization sends out packets to help get the party started, including recipe cards and a DVD describing its findings.

Women’s Voices has written to many manufacturers, asking them to specify which chemicals were in their products. Most declined, saying their formulas were secret, although all said their products were safe. Women’s Voices argues that some chemicals, particularly those found in air fresheners and fabric softeners, such as phthalates, monoethanolamine and quaternary ammonium compounds, have been linked to low sperm counts, birth weights and other problems when large doses are fed to laboratory animals, and that janitors and others exposed through constant use at industrial-strength applications have higher rates of asthma. However, there is no scientific proof that the typical home exposure from off-the-shelf cleaning is risky. “We’d love to have that data, but that kind of research just hasn’t been done,” said Alexandra Gorman Scranton, science director for Women’s Voices. “That’s where our concerns come in. We don’t know the effects they could have over a lifetime.”

Steve - over the years, we have compiled a comprehensive list of Safe Household Products.