Common Chemicals in Cleaning Products

July 08, 2020 Leave a Comment

We know that cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products are essential. Recent events have shown us even more so how important it is to maintain a clean, healthy living environment to help prevent the spread of viruses. Many of the products people are stocking up on to accomplish this, however, are often dangerous. The dangers they pose apply to people, pets, and the environment. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have warned about these dangers for decades and continue to warn about them regularly. There's a reason they issue these warnings. It's because we are putting ourselves and the environment at risk every time we use them. Despite knowing this, we continue to spend more than a billion dollars on these products every year. Fortunately, consumers are beginning to be more concerned for the environment and are beginning to lean toward products labeled as "green" or "eco-friendly." According to Statista, the importance of eco-friendly seals on cleaning products in the US is illustrated by the fact that 55% of consumers in 2018 made an effort to be aware of products that are labeled as being "eco-friendly."

Common Chemicals Found in Cleaning Products

To begin with, many cleaning products contain synthetic fragrances. It's estimated that about 95 percent of the chemicals in synthetic fragrances come from petrochemicals, including phthalates, aldehydes, benzene derivatives, and many more toxins that can cause birth defects, cancer, allergies, headaches, and issues with the nervous system. Some of these are even listed on the EPA's waste list. The worst part about this is that many chemicals can be hidden from the consumer when they are included as part of the manmade fragrance and can be applied to a product label simply by adding "fragrance" to the label as an ingredient. The fragrance itself, listed as one ingredient, can contain many hazardous chemicals.

The CDC, EPA, and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), all agree that many cleaning products contain carcinogenic impurities and that "Children born to women who held cleaning jobs while pregnant have an elevated risk of birth defects." Furthermore, many cleaning products cause burns, respiratory issues, and even cancer. Some other chemicals found cleaning products include:

• Formaldehyde
• Ammonia
• Sodium Hydroxide
• 2-Butoxyethanol

These chemicals can cause health problems that range from mild to severe asthma, burning, and even kidney and liver damage.

Are Green and Eco-Friendly Products Safer?

The short answer is yes, some of them. The EPA suggests doing your research and using caution when selecting products just because they use some of the popular buzzwords like "green," and "eco-friendly." While many of these products are better for the environment, a "green" label is no guarantee the product is everything it claims. That's because the guidelines for enforcing these claims are still not strict enough and the terms are open to interpretation. Also, as we mentioned above, creative wording and the use of umbrella terms like "fragrances" can cover up some of the dangers of a product. Also, keep in mind that companies are not required to list ingredients that are considered proprietary or as trade secrets. Many of those ingredients could be dangerous and not even be listed on the product label.

At GenEon Technologies, we believe in safe cleaning products and non-toxic sanitizers and disinfectants. Our cleaners, sanitizers, and disinfectants are made through a process known as electrochemical activation (ECA). It's not a new thing, but we've leveraged to create products you can depend on. It works like this: One of the natural minerals that GenEon Technologies uses as a catalyst is salt. Salt is a compound comprised of sodium and chloride. Sodium ions are positively charged and chloride ions are negatively charged. GenEon Technologies On-Site Generators expose these ions to a low electrical charge. The positive side of the charge electrochemically converts the chloride ion (Cl) to hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is a powerful sanitizer. The negative side of the charge electrochemically converts the sodium ion (Na) into sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is a cleaning compound commonly found in soaps and detergents. Unlike many other OSG systems, GenEon's system is a Blended Stream System that uses both versions in the same solution. The hypochlorous solution is represented as Free Available Chlorine (FAC) that has 80-200 times the sanitizing power of chlorine bleach. Since it is produced at a near-neutral pH, it won't bleach out furniture or clothes, yet it provides an effective way to sanitize and disinfect the places where we work, play, and live.


Our products are made on-demand by consumers using our on-site generation technology like our Instaflow, for generating a high-volume of sustainable products. With this technology, our customers make only the cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products they need for a specific task. This means there is less waste, less water usage, and no need to store harmful chemical-based products in your facility. This makes our products the perfect solution for schools, long-term care facilities, medical facilities, hotels, food establishments, public gyms, shopping malls, and more. When combined with advanced delivery systems like our Mist sprayers, you won't find a more perfect system for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting large, open spaces or even places that are hard to reach and often overlooked. GenEon Technologies products let you keep a clean, healthy home or workplace while removing the risks associated with chemical cleaning products. "Eco-friendly," "green," and 'Sustainable" are not just buzzwords to us. We do independent testing to ensure our products are what we say they are. Our cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products use only natural minerals, water, and electricity. It's as simple as that.

When you're ready to put GenEon Technologies sustainable cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products to work in your place of business, fill out the form here on our website. One of our representatives will be happy to help.