February 19, 2021 Leave a Comment
Bleach has been used as a sanitizer and disinfectant for decades. It's considered to be a very strong disinfectant. This is because the active ingredient is sodium hypochlorite, which alters and takes away protein in micro-organisms, which makes bleach effective for killing bacteria, fungus, and viruses. But many people ask themselves, is bleach dangerous? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control both list bleach as an effective disinfectant, but at the same time, they are quick to warn of the dangers of bleach for sanitizing and disinfecting. Bleach also ranks high as one of the most common DIY projects, including whitening clothes, whitening tile grout, stain removal, and cleaning toilets, porcelain, etc. Despite the powerful sanitizing and disinfecting properties associated with bleach, using it in your home, your business, your schools, and particularly around children, is dangerous.
Is Bleach Dangerous for Sanitizing and Disinfecting?
While there is no doubt bleach cleans and disinfects, there are many health issues associated with bleach that people don't think about. A lot of people go straight for bleach to sanitize without considering the health risks. Bleach can be toxic if ingested in large doses, which makes it a hazard to have around children who may not know better, but there are other dangers as well. According to the EPA, bleach will give off fumes well after it has been used. These fumes can have both short- and long-term effects on the health of people and pets. Janitorial staff and employees of businesses where bleach is used regularly have proven to show a higher instance of health issues. The EPA states that people who have been exposed to bleach are susceptible to a higher instance of respiratory illnesses. The CDC and the EPA, along with numerous other health agencies have linked asthma and allergy issues to be exposed to bleach. Bleach can also be the cause of headaches, can burn your skin, and can cause severe rashes. A lot of commercial cleaners, sanitizers, and disinfectants are dangerous to humans and pets. We use many of these products daily, sometimes in addition to using bleach. Bleach and ammonia both rank toward the top of the list for dangerous cleaning and sanitizing products. One of the biggest dangers associated with bleach is when you mix it with other products, which many people do, hoping to get better results can lead to extremely dangerous and toxic dangerous results.How Do You Sanitize Without Using Bleach?
There's good news. You don't need to use bleach to sanitize. You also do not need to use products containing bleach to sanitize. In fact you nor do you need to use bleach, period! There are alternatives. GenEon is the ideal way to clean without using bleach.
Electrochemical Activation (ECA)
The process is called electrochemical activation (ECA). Here's how it works. One of the natural minerals that GenEon 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 Onsite 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. This is called electrolyzed water for cleaning, and GenEon is the leader in the on-site generation of Electrolyzed Water.
