Breast Cancer From Household Window Cleaning Products

Another reason why house-holders should hire a professional window cleaner. For the next time she says "no thanks, we do them ourselves."

Household cleaning products linked with cancer: A study released July 20 found a possible link between breast cancer and the use of household cleaning products which contain carcinogenic substances such as methylene chloride. The study included 787 women from Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the US who had been diagnosed with breast cancer between 1988 and 1995, and a further 721 control subjects.

The report found that the association between breast cancer, combined cleaning products and combined air freshener products doubled between the highest and lowest quartile of self-reported household product use; e.g., a large number of participants who used the most amount of cleaning products believed that such products were linked with cancer. The association between cleaning products and breast cancer was highest amongst participants who believed that pollutants contribute ‘a lot' to the risk of breast cancer. However, according to the report little association was made between pesticide use and breast cancer.

Though the study states that cleaning product use contributes to increased breast cancer risk, it also notes the difficulty of retrospective surveys in distinguishing between valid associations and recall bias. Household cleaners are of interest to cancer researchers as a number of them contain ingredients which cause cancer in animal mammary glands, such as nitrobenzene found in soaps and methylene chloride which is found in fabric cleaners.

Glass/window cleaner: Glass cleaners emit an ammonia mist, which the user breathes. Although ammonia is a poison, glass cleaning products do not carry a warning label.



SOME OF THE COMMON CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FOUND IN OFF THE SHELF WINDOW CLEANERS:

AMMONIA - Acute health effects: Can cause headache, loss of sense of smell, nausea, and vomiting. Can irritate skin and eyes, leading to permanent damage. Can irritate nose, mouth, and throat, causing coughing and wheezing. Can irritate lungs, causing coughing and/or shortness of breath; higher exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs.
Chronic health effects: Repeated exposure can cause chronic irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Repeated exposures may cause bronchitis, with cough, phlegm, and/or shortness of breath.

BUTOXYETHANOL - Acute health effects: Can irritate eyes, nose, mouth, and throat. Exposures at high levels can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and unconsciousness. Chronic health effects: May damage liver and kidneys. Long-term exposure may break down red blood cells, causing anemia. May be a teratogen, causing damage to a developing fetus.

BUTYL ALCOHOL - Acute health effects: Can irritate skin, causing a burning sensation or rash on contact. Can irritate and burn eyes, leading to tearing and damage. Inhalation can cause coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, headache, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness; higher levels can cause unconsciousness and irregular heartbeat.
Chronic health effects: Repeated contact may cause drying and cracking of skin. Exposure can damage liver, heart, kidneys, hearing, and sense of balance.

ALKYL POLYGLYCOSIDE - Acute health effects: Inhalation or contact with material may irritate or burn skin and eyes. Fire may produce irritating, corrosive and/or toxic gases. Vapors may cause dizziness or suffocation. Flammable and/or toxic gases are generated by the combination of alcohols with alkali metals, nitrides, and strong reducing agents. They react with oxoacids and carboxylic acids to form esters plus water. Oxidizing agents convert them to aldehydes or ketones.

DIETHYLENE GLYCOL N-HEXYL ETHER - Acute health effects: Ethers tend to form unstable peroxides when exposed to oxygen. Ethyl, isobutyl, ethyl tert-butyl, and ethyl tert-pentyl ether are particularly hazardous in this respect. Exposure can cause irritation of eyes, nose and throat.

ETHYLENE GLYCOL - Acute health effects: Irritation of eyes, skin, nose, throat; lassitude (weakness, exhaustion); headache, dizziness, central nervous system depression; abnormal eye movements (nystagmus); skin sensitization; INGES ACUTE: Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of coordination, stupor, convulsions, unconsciousness; rapid heart rate, congestive heart failure; kidney damage, failure (delayed). Health Effects: Irritation-Eye, Nose, Throat, Skin---Moderate (HE15) CNS depression (HE7). Affected organs: Eyes, skin, respiratory system, CNS.

ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL - Acute health effects: Is an irritant of the eyes and mucous membranes; at high concentrations, it causes central nervous system depression. The first generation offspring of treated rats had early growth retardation. Acute exposure to isopropyl alcohol causes eye and mucous membrane irritation and may cause incoordination and narcosis. Ingestion causes gastrointestinal pain, nausea, vomiting, and may cause coma and death.