The Alliance For A Healthy Tomorrow, a Massachusetts coalition of over 150 organizations, including health professionals and labor unions, is working to pass legislation calling for alternatives to toxic cleaning products. The Alliance released a report in 2007 that targets common household cleaners for a variety of health problems. The study, titled Household Hazards, presents mounting evidence that exposure to chemicals in cleaning products is linked with health problems in people, particularly asthma and reproductive harm. For more information, go to http://www.tomkileylaw.com.
This study led to the Safer Cleaning Products Act, H-2246 or S-2204, in the Massachusetts Legislature, requiring safer cleaning products in schools, day care centers, hospitals, and other public facilities throughout Massachusetts. The act is still being considered in committee in 2008.
The report examines ingredients in household cleaners that could cause harm – particularly to children, women and janitorial workers – and calls for greater regulation of cleaning products.
