Cleaning products emit hundreds of hazardous chemicals, new study finds | Hacker News Reader

Cleaning products emit hundreds of hazardous chemicals, new study finds

medicalxpress.com

24 pointsPaulHoule18 comments

I’ll do my little PSA of: your “cool mist“ or ultrasonic dehumidifier is pumping your air full of particulate pollution. I’ve measured this myself, unintentionally, by putting one in my daughter’s room where I already had an air quality sensor. The PM2.5 soared.

Don’t put these in a bedroom! Probably avoid them entirely, and used a steam humidifier if you need the functionality.

https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/articles...

Use distilled water. I bought a distilling machine just for this and my pm2.5 sensor barely moves. Used to peak up to 120 on tap water. Now it’s consistently under 2 and the air is humid.

Distilling machine is a good idea since distilled water seems hard to find sometimes.

Good call out. Ultrasonic humidifiers actively aerosolize whatever particles and microorganisms (which are multiplying) in the water.

For long term use (as it not just for a sick day), wick based (evaporative) humidifiers are a good option.

Is it actual pollution or just water droplets?

Not "just water". Ultrasonic humidifiers aerosolize the water including whatever particles are on the water (e.g. calcium).

This is in contrast with steam humidifiers, which evaporate "just water". This is due to water evaporating at 100C, and all other particles stay in the heating chamber.

Not entirely convinced this is correct. I've noticed that the humidity from a shower can also make air quality sensors readings spike so it does seem plausible that it's at least partially picking up the water

I find it hard to believe that some calcium ions constitute a health hazard.

Probably depends on what’s in the water. Quoting the original research paper:

> A phenomenon known as “white dust” is associated with filling ultrasonic humidifiers with hard water; inhaling this white dust caused childhood lung injury (Daftary and Deterding, 2011)

I had to scrape a thick layer of calcium dust off of screen and furniture after using an ultrasonic humidifier all winter.

Reminds me of when I’m eating out and a worker comes over to clean the table next to me spraying cleaner everywhere.

This was obvious to anyone with a functioning nose, right? Any fragrance basically necessitates VOCs and surprise surprise, many VOCs are harmful to you.

"Cleaning" used to mean eliminating germs as well as dirt.

Although I saw a product in a grocery store labeled "pro-biotic" cleaner.

Maybe it's a generational gap.

I've started using white vinegar for most cleaning tasks. Readily available in large quantities & works fine for most household grime.

Initially thought it would make the place smell but hasn't been an issue.

I hate news like this because they never EVER give you a nice handy list of worst offenders, safer options, etc.

If you’re in the US: I switched to Branch Basics last year and their products are pretty good. I have to scrub harder and maybe spray and let the solution sit to get tough messes out but they work reasonably well. Also switched to blueland tabs for laundry and dishwasher and they also work pretty well. They even started selling those at Target

I wish it was much more specific, but they do at least say that the green-marketed products are significantly better on average.

A weak solution of Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach) works excellent.

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