Safety Alert! Common Cleaners can turn into poison gas!

[Kevin]

I read an article this weekend and was shocked back into awareness that I need to be reading the labels of common stuff around the house!

The link to the entire article is here: Brake Cleaner = Phosgene Article

Excerpt of what he is suffering from an easy mistake-

....I may have emphysema and chronic bronchitis. I'm on nasal medicine and an inhaler. My sinuses are severly scarred, and my smell nerves are damaged. I still have that awful chlorine taste and smell. I may also have pancreas damage. The insulin that I was taking had little effect on my sugar levels, so I'm now on some stronger medicines....

This guy almost died, and probably has permanent damage from brake fluid.

Heads up!

Brake Cleaner = Phosgene Article

[Sunshine]

Hi Kevin

I had a look at the article. Quite dreadful. And yes, reading the labels on stuff around the house is definitely a good idea. You might be surprised just how many toxic chemicals you will find in cleaning products, shampoo, washing powder, shower gel, etc. These are products we're using every day and the chemicals are being absorbed into our bodies through our skin and breathing them in. And they can have a whole range of effects. I remember one place I worked at where they started to clean the desks with a spray - bright blue in colour - and I couldn't breathe. Opening the windows didn't help. I got a burning sensation in my lung area and a splitting headache and could feel my body starting to shut down. I had to get out as quickly as possible. We tend to think that if things are for sale in the shops that they must be safe - and especially everyday products we use in the home - but that just isn't the case. It's definitely good to be aware.

[Kevin]

Hi Kevin

I had a look at the article. Quite dreadful. And yes, reading the labels on stuff around the house is definitely a good idea. You might be surprised just how many toxic chemicals you will find in cleaning products, shampoo, washing powder, shower gel, etc. These are products we're using every day and the chemicals are being absorbed into our bodies through our skin and breathing them in. And they can have a whole range of effects. I remember one place I worked at where they started to clean the desks with a spray - bright blue in colour - and I couldn't breathe. Opening the windows didn't help. I got a burning sensation in my lung area and a splitting headache and could feel my body starting to shut down. I had to get out as quickly as possible. We tend to think that if things are for sale in the shops that they must be safe - and especially everyday products we use in the home - but that just isn't the case. It's definitely good to be aware.

Sunshine,

Glad you are ok from that.

Just a few days ago I asked Mary if we had a hand juicer (one of those things where you push half of an orange on and it squeezes the juice out and filters the pulp so you get only the juice).

She handed me one...it was made of ALUMINUM! I pointed that out to her...she said it was her grandmothers. Wow! Both her grandparents suffered from Alzheimers.

Anyway, I did not use it. It is hanging on the wall...sentimental value.

Citric acid running over aluminum and then drinking it...not a good combination.