Household cleaning products can release hundreds of dangerous chemicals, according to a study conducted by scientists from the American non-governmental organization “Environmental Working Group” and published in the journal “Chemosphere”.

The study analyzed 30 cleaning products, including all-purpose cleaners, window cleaners and air fresheners, and found that they release hundreds of dangerous volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs. VOCs in cleaning products affect both indoor and outdoor air quality. However, they pollute indoor air two to five times more than outdoor air, with some estimates as high as ten times more. Some products emit VOCs for days, weeks or even months.

The researchers looked at both conventional and “green” cleaning products and identified a total of 530 unique VOCs in these products. Of these, 193 were dangerous. Also, products labeled “green” were found to emit fewer VOCs, about half on average, compared to conventional products. Green products that were also categorized as “unscented” had nearly eight times less VOCs than conventional products and four times less than green products that had fragrance on their label.

This pattern was also true for the number of hazardous VOCs. Green products emit an average of four chemicals classified as hazardous, compared to about 15 in scented green products and 22 in conventional products.

“This study is a wake-up call for consumers, researchers, and regulators to be more aware of the potential risks associated with the many chemicals entering indoor air,” says Alexis Temkin, senior toxicologist at ” Environmental Working Group’.

As she adds, “Our findings highlight a way to reduce exposure to hazardous VOCs by choosing products that are ‘green’, especially those that are ‘green’ and ‘unscented’.”