Kids - Bleach.

A few points around the use of bleach and kids.

Why do you care?

• Cleaning products are frequently involved in home poisonings.
• Children can also be exposed to dangerous gases when cleaners containing bleach are mixed with other cleaning agents, such as ammonia and vinegar. Noxious fumes are produced that are toxic gases like chlorine and chloramine.
• Bleach should not be used near people with asthma or with chronic lung problems. Sometimes manufacturers cover up the strong odors of these products with a lemon or "fresh" scent. This is a bad idea because the unpleasant odor is a warning signal that the product is harmful to breathe.1
• Chlorinated swimming pools can initiate minor irritations such as skin and eye irritation. There are larger implications of significant exposure to chlorine and chlorine byproducts in pools such as childhood asthama as recent research implicating pool chlorine in the rise of childhood asthma in industrialized countries.2
• Another recent study suggests that infant swimming practices in chlorinated indoor swimming pools is associated with airways changes that, along with other factors, seem to predispose children to the development of asthma and recurrent bronchit, as irritant gases and aerosols contaminating the air of indoor swimming pools can affect the lung epithelium and increase asthma risk in children.3

The Know How

• Use bleach alternatives. See Bleach it.
• See the Children's Health Environmental Coalition for tips on Alternatives to Antibacterials and Disinfectants: Safer Ways to Keep Germs at Bay.
• Seek alternatives to chlorinated pool - some community pools are switching to treating water with ozone gas, ultra violet light, salt or combinations.

Know and Tell

• When Tamey was talking to a friend about this topic her friend admitted that when soaking cloth diapers in vinegar she would sometimes add bleach. She didn't know it then but what she did was create noxious chlorine gas.
• If you didn't already do so take a look at Patti's product reviews - what works for smelly hockey equipment can work for other smelly items.

Take a look at the Bleach it e-Bulletin.

1. Chemical Profile - Chlorine. Children's Health Environmental Coalition, retrieved from website Sept 15, 2007.
2. Ecological association between childhood asthma and availability of indoor chlorinated swimming pools in Europe. Nickmilder, M., Bernard, A. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2007;64:37-46.
3. Infant Swimming Practice, Pulmonary Epithelium Integrity, and the Risk of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases Later in Childhood. Bernard, A. et al. PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 6 June 2007, pp. 1095-1103 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-3333)