Has cleaning become a dangerous job?

This blog was written for Ingenious Probiotics.

Cleaning has never been thought of as a dangerous job. When we think of dangerous jobs, we think of tree cutters, asbestos removal workers, high-rise window cleaners and people who operate heavy machinery. But we would not naturally categorise cleaners, even domestic cleaners, as a high risk role that can impact your health long term. However, research and science is now pointing in that direction. 

Office based desk jobs are flagged for all sorts of health issues, such as back, neck and wrist issues, sciatica, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, stroke and premature death. It makes you fidget in your seat reading that list, as you’re likely sitting at your desk while reading this. However, according to a new study, builders and cleaners are three times more likely to die earlier than their office job counterparts. One report from the Lancet Public Health Journal showed that women who are employed for domestic cleaning jobs are more at risk of early death than women hired 20 years ago. This has been directly linked to the chemicals found in cleaning products, such as ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

How are cleaning chemicals dangerous?

There are many different types of chemical cleaners, with side effects ranging from mild to lethal, but for commercial and domestic cleaners, the widest used chemicals that can be hugely problematic contain ammonia and VOCs. We tend to clean with some seriously powerful stuff to ensure it’s properly clean but also done efficiently. When a cleaner is on the clock, they can’t spend three hours delicately getting grease off a kitchen splash back with soapy water; they need to spray some industrial strength grease remover, wait five minutes while they are cleaning somewhere else and then return to wipe to a sparking shine. The trade off is the type of chemicals they are using to do this with. Unfortunately throughout the industry, there isn’t enough education about safer cleaning methods, only the ones that may be faster and are market leading. 

These toxic chemical cleaners that contain volatile organic compounds and ammonia are responsible for many health issues. The VOCs are found in vapours from many cleaning products, both commercial and domestic, and lung assessment of long term employed cleaners showed the damage inflicted was the equivalent of someone smoking 20 cigarettes for 10-20 years. These products have been linked to asthma, eye, nose and throat irritations, wheezing, nausea, headaches, dizziness, skin issues and allergic reactions. However, the severity of symptoms correlates to the level and frequency of exposure, and whether or not you have a pre-existing condition. Many who have asthma, allergies, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), or any disease that causes hyper-reactive airways, have a much higher risk of reaction than those who do not have any conditions at all. 

What can I do to protect myself and others? 

We wished we had magic wands to clean everything as a solution, but we don’t, so we still have to put that elbow grease in to keep the house or office spick and span. By switching to probiotic cleaning products, you’re doing the best for yourself, your family or work colleagues, as they contain no harmful chemicals, toxins, carcinogenic or pollutants. In short, no nasties, so it massively lowers the health risks that come with chemical based cleaning products. 

Probiotic cleaning products aren’t just great because they don’t contain harmful chemicals, they are also great because they restore law and order to your environment’s microflora. The probiotics keep working long after you have. By deploying a healthy amount of good bacteria to a surface that contains bad bacteria, the good guys will consume everything that the bad guys eat, cutting off their food supply, causing them to wither away. This restores the microflora rather than obliterating it, reducing the risk of creating more “super bugs,” antimicrobial resistant mutant bacteria. 

Not only do probiotic cleaning products restore healthy microflora, but they are also A+ rated for respiratory safety, anti-allergenic and aid allergy management, non-irritating, don’t pollute the air, suitable for sensitive skin, biodegradable, sustainable and environmentally friendly. 

Our probiotic cleaning products and hand soaps are all effective against the coronavirus, COVID-19, so you can protect yourself without long term damage to your environment’s microflora!